This weekend is the quarter finals of the FA Cup. The four big guns all avoided each other in the draw and should all proceed to the semi-finals. Here is a preview of this weekends games.
Coventry v Chelsea
I am a long-time Coventry City fan, and when the draw was made I thought that the Sky Blues might be able to pull the upset on a Chelsea team that was not playing well.
Well all that has changed. Guus Hiddink has revitalised Chelsea and striker Didier Drogba in particular. Drogba is looking like one of the bets strikers in the Premier League again and I think that Chelsea will have too much for the Coventry.
Predictions:: 0-2 Read more... (412 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)
Everton knocked Liverpool out of the F.A. Cup on Wednesday 1-0 as midfielder Dan Gosling produced something special late into extra time. The 19-year-old from Plymouth, in only his fifth appearance for the club, scored in the 118th minute to finally break the spirit of 10-man Liverpool.
On Monday Liverpool sold forward Robbie Keane back to Spurs basically because Benitez had not wanted him in the first place. The move left Liverpool short of goal scorers and the karma gods must have been smiling when Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard limped off after only 16 minutes holding his hamstring. Read more... (350 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
The FA Cup on Saturday was not a happy day for the billionaires from Manchester City and Chelsea. First, former European Champions Nottingham Forest spanked the moneybags from the blue side of Manchester 3-0. Before the game City paraded their new signing Wayne Bridge.
City are out of the cup and two points above the drop-zone, which is not what the Abu Dhabi United Group expected when they bought the club in August. You have to wonder how much longer they will give Mark Hughes to turn City’s fortunes around? Read more... (412 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)
The fourth round of the FA Cup will feature a Merseyside derby after Liverpool and Everton were the first two balls drawn out of the hat. With the games being played over the weekend of January 24-25, Liverpool and Everton will now meet twice in six days at Anfield. Buy Liverpool – Everton Tickets
The two clubs last met in the 1991 competition when it took three games to decide the tie in Everton’s favour, a 0–0 draw at Anfield being followed by the 4–4 draw at Goodison which prompted Kenny Dalglish’s resignation before Everton won 1–0 at Anfield. Read more... (396 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)
Giantkillers Droylsden have been expelled from the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player.
Last week, Droylsden thought they had won their second-round tie against League Two side Chesterfield at the fourth time of asking after fog, a controversial goal and floodlight failure had foiled three previous attempts to separate the sides.
But it turned out that defender Sean Newton, who scored both their goals in a 2-1 win, was ineligible after collecting his fifth booking of the season on December 9.
An FA Cup protest sub-committee met on Monday and ordered that Droylsden be removed from the competition and League Two side Chesterfield will now play Ipswich in the third round on Saturday. Read more... (448 words, 2 images, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)
I was watching the FA Cup games over the weekend, enjoying the small stadiums, packed to the rafters, cheering their team on against bigger, more famous opponents.
The FA Cup brought memories of previous FA Cup ties that I saw as a kid. Standing on the terraces of Wembley watching Man United beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Or following Coventry to Leyton Orient in the early 1970’s and having the ground be full of only Coventry supporters at the end as the Sky Blues won easily. Read more... (230 words, 1 image, estimated 55 secs reading time)
