Stilian Petrov of Aston Villa has been diagnosed with leukaemia

Aston Villa captain Stilian Petrov has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia, the club have said.The condition was diagnosed following tests after the Bulgaria international, 32, developed a fever following last Saturday's defeat to Arsenal.

England: Premier League Weekend Previews & Predictions

Manchester City will look to return to the top of the table with rivals Manchester United not in action until Monday.City host Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, while the race for a top four place in the Premier League continues.Chelsea, fresh from victory over Benfica in Lisbon, travel to Aston Villa hoping to keep their ambitions alive, with Arsenal facing relegation-threatened QPR. Sunday sees Tottenham take on Swansea at White Hart Lane, with Newcastle and Liverpool locking horns earlier on Tyneside.

Preview
Manchester City vs. Sunderland: Preview
Premier League Spotlight
Paul Merson's Predictions
Lawro's Predictions

Italy: Serie A Weekend Preview

All eyes will be on Andrea Stramaccioni when he makes his Serie A coaching debut with Inter Milan against Genoa on Sunday.The 36-year-old was promoted from youth team coach to guide the senior side after the Nerazzurri parted company with experienced tactician Claudio Ranieri earlier this week. Serie A leaders AC Milan go into Saturday's game at Catania with their hopes of reaching the Champions League semi-finals very much alive after holding defending champions Barcelona to a goalless draw on Wednesday at the San Siro. Juventus are unbeaten this season but face a stern test when they square off against Champions League hopefuls Napoli in Turin on Sunday night.

Preview

Spain: Eduardo Alvarez's Weekend Quiniela

The widely acclaimed (ahem )Wiktionary defines a 'reverse jinx' as a prediction which is the opposite of the outcome desired by the person making it. The term, obviously relevant to a column devoted to predict the outcome of matches - mostly wrong, I know -, has become even more interesting after Josep Guardiola's blatant reverse jinxing campaign started last month. Four weeks ago, and with his club ten points behind the leader, he understandably stated that 'We won't win this title'. However, his defeatist speech remained untouched when Real Madrid drew not only one, but two consecutive matches. A six-point difference with one derby remaining still seemed unassailable to Pep: 'Real Madrid will win again, this league is over', he psychically said last Saturday.But not even Pep is perfect, and the stylish Catalan ended up blowing his own cover right before Barcelona's Champions League match in Milan. 'If we don't perform in the next two matches (meaning AC Milan and Athletic de Bilbao), we could lose two titles'. Uh? Two titles? I thought La Liga was already lost, Mr Guardiola.Superstitions abound in the world of football. Reverse jinxing, emotional hedging or lowering expectations have always been part of the game and, of course, football gambling as well. Pay attention to what you read, someone could be reverse-jinxing your team right now.Shall we? Remember, it's '1' for a home win, 'X' for a draw and '2' for an away win.

Everton's Leighton Baines winning the race ahead of Chelsea's Ashley Cole to be England's best left-back

After all it’s been a difficult campaign for Cole and for Chelsea and, with voting under way among the players, he is not in his best form.What could be interesting, however, is that Cole could lose out to an Englishman in the Premier League's select XI for the first time since 2001-02 when Wayne Bridge, then of Southampton, was chosen ahead of him.

Fabrice Muamba pictured in hospital sitting up and smiling as recovery from cardiac arrest continues

"I pray that we see Fabrice Muamba smile again" said Arsene Wenger two weeks ago. Today, Wenger got his wish as the Bolton midfielder was pictured sitting up in hospital smiling for a photograph.

Uli Hesse in Germany

Last Saturday, I saw a cracking game. The visitors, second from bottom, scored from a set-piece in the first minute and then, as the hosts piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser, added two goals from counter attacks for a stunning 3-0 lead at half-time. The home side, in fourth place when the game began, pulled one back early in the second half and proceeded to throw everything forward. They hit the post, then scored to make it 3-2 and in the final 20 minutes it was thrilling end-to-end stuff, though even the best chances went begging.I had a few beers and a bratwurst, I applauded good moves and shook my head at bad ones while squinting against the sun. Then the final whistle blew, we all went home and, all things considered, the world was not a bad place to be. There's no point in telling you who played whom and who scored - suffice it to say that I had a stunning conversation with the groundskeeper, who is an old pal of Otto Rehhagel and owns the very ball with which Bremen's Uwe Reinders scored from a throw-in against Bayern Munich.It was a game in the Schleswig-Holstein-Liga, one of the 11 regional divisions that currently make up the fifth level of German football. Despite the presence of some well-known clubs at this tier - former German champions VfR Mannheim and former cup winners Schwarz-Weiss Essen, for example - this is what we call amateur football.