Archive for the ‘The FA Cup’ Category

Who Are The Favourites To Progress To The FA Cup Semi-Finals?

Posted: February 20, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur
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Three of the Premier League’s top six remain in this year’s competition as we reach the quarter final stage.

In what can only be described as a crazily premature draw, as it was made before the fifth round was complete, the big three were kept apart with Manchester United given a home draw whilst the two London clubs received away ties, although Spurs are yet to overcome Rochdale to officially book their place.

Sheffield Wednesday and Rochdale will still feel as though they have a chance of progressing but that chance is now very remote. Having both managed to draw their home games they are now favourites to exit the competition in the replays away from home. (more…)

Would Winning The FA Cup And A Top Four Finish Represent An Improvement Over Last Season For Manchester United?

Posted: February 18, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur
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On one hand, yes. On the other hand, no. If we had a third hand we would also plump for not knowing whether or not those two accomplishments would be deemed an improvement over last season’s three trophies.

In the league table, it has to be admitted, that any finish above sixth would be seen as an improvement but it must also be remembered that the final few games of last season’s Premier League campaign were deemed less important than usual due to United’s intent on winning the Europa League.

Winning the FA Cup would, of course, be an upgrade on winning the Carabao Cup as it is the major domestic knock-out cup in England. It requires, however, a favourable draw at some stage of the competition so United will be hoping for this in the coming rounds. (more…)

The Draw For The FA Cup Fifth Round Should See All Four Favourites Progress

Posted: February 13, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur
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Antonio Conte v Nigel Adkins

In a draw which has been uncommonly kind to the remaining four clubs from England’s big six, the only difficulty any of them should encounter is the travelling conditions as, of the four, only Chelsea have been drawn at home.

They are set to face Hull City in a tie which has grown in importance over the last couple of weeks as the cup now represents their best, and possibly, only chance of silverware. (They face Barcelona in the Champion’s League and are unlikely to pass that test).

Tepid defeats at home to Bournemouth 0-3, followed by Watford away 4-1 have made the result of this cup game less predictable than it should have been.

Chelsea, despite their recent woes, should still be too good for Hull and we expect them to go through without the need for a replay. (more…)

FA Cup: And Then There Were Four! Which Of The Top Six Joined Arsenal As Spectators For The Rest Of The Competition?

Posted: January 29, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur, Transfers
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Manchester City beat Cardiff City without their new signings Fred and Aymeric Laporte mainly because they are not yet their new signings.

Laporte is expected to be announced on Tuesday because the weather will be nice in Manchester and there are no direct flights from Bilbao on Monday evening since easyJet cancelled their service. So he will have to fly with TAP which stops off in Lisbon on the way!

Either that or they could splash out on a private jet but, given that Pep Guardiola has been at pains to point out how poor City really are, that is unlikely. (more…)

Has The World’s Oldest Cup Competition Lost All Of It’s Magic?

Posted: January 6, 2018 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur
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FA Cup 1904

 (The nearest there was to an interactive wall-chart in 1904! The numbers on the colours correspond to the number of the team wearing them and there are some interesting names amongst the previous winners. The winners that year were…..Manchester City!)

The FA Cup may not be quite as glamorous as it used to be but it is still a trophy that the top clubs want to win.

An appearance at Wembley nowadays is no reward for reaching the final. After all, drawing Tottenham Hotspur away will have the same outcome this season, as will reaching the semi-final and it is this devaluation of the national stadium which has been a major contributor to the FA Cup losing much of it’s gloss. (more…)

Can Manchester City Be The Next “Invincibles”? If Not, Are Manchester United Good Enough To Catch Them?

Posted: October 30, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Religion, The FA Cup
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Back in 2003, when stubborn old man was quite a good manager, his team managed to go through an entire season without losing a single game in the Premier League.

Back in the 1880’s, when stubborn old man was just a small garçon in Strasbourg, Preston North End managed to go through an entire season without losing a single game in both the league and the cup. In doing so they were, and still are, the only one of the seven double winners to achieve the task without losing a game. They also won the cup without conceding a goal.

There is a slight chance that the Arsenal achievement could be matched by Manchester City this season. There is a much slighter chance that the Preston achievement could be matched but City’s defence probably isn’t good enough for that one. (more…)

The Manchester Derby Only City Can Afford To Lose And An FA Cup Final Of No Interest To Anybody Outside London

Posted: April 26, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, The FA Cup
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It is now Wednesday, 26th May. Manchester City are two points behind Liverpool with two games in hand and an inferior goal difference.

Manchester United are three points behind Liverpool with two games in hand and a vastly inferior goal difference.

The upshot of all this is the following: If Thursday’s derby game is a draw, both Manchester clubs gain a point on Liverpool and both will overtake Liverpool should they win their other game in hand. (more…)

If Manchester United Beat Chelsea They Will Be Drawn Against Manchester City

Posted: March 13, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur
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Get ready for the usual sting. If Manchester United can find a way to beat Chelsea, (which seems unlikely with two donkeys like Smalling and Young in the team), what is the betting that their next FA Cup game will be against Manchester City?

There is a force at work somewhere which endeavours to ensure that these two teams never meet in the final.

It may be that they want a London team in the final and one way of making sure of that is to have Tottenham play Arsenal in the semi-final. Guess what that would mean? Correct, City would play United in the other semi. (more…)

Manchester United, City, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool And Arsenal All Make Changes With Varying Degrees Of Success And One Spectacular Failure

Posted: January 29, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, The FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur
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The top six were all in FA Cup action this weekend. They all fielded “weakened” teams which, however it is viewed, means that the FA Cup is now regarded as being on a par with the EFL Cup. They are both competitions clubs would like to win but, if they don’t, then it’s no big deal and some of the fringe players and youngsters have had a run-out.

One manager was quoted as saying that, “we don’t have a weakened team we have an alternative team“. This should be true, especially when you consider the size and quality of the squads belonging to the top six, but it was said tongue-in-cheek. (more…)

With JosĂ© Mourinho In Charge There Is No Reason Why Manchester United Can’t Win Three Trophies This Season

Posted: January 7, 2017 in EFL Cup, Europa League, European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, The FA Cup
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At the beginning of the season there was belief. Belief that Manchester United were on the way back to being good at football.

They started off like an express train and were unstoppable until they were stopped. Unfortunately they were stopped by another unstoppable team at the time when Manchester City beat them at Old Trafford. City were to go on being unstoppable until they were stopped by Tottenham Hotspur who, whilst not being unstoppable, haven’t really been stopped by anybody yet, (unless you count a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford as stopping them). (more…)

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