Birmingham City and Tottenham Hotspurs
BIRMINGHAM CITY
Birmingham City boss was content to be drawn against West Ham United in the League Cup semi-final first leg. Alex McLeish said, "When you get draws like this you tend to think getting the home leg second is beneficial. We've got to go to West Ham and
try to play a game in the first leg to take a result back to Birmingham."
Birmingham won the quarter final of the Carling Cup against their fierce city rivals Aston Villa at St. Andrews stadium. This is the first time in eleven years that Birmingham is through to the semi-finals of this tournament. The other semi-final of Carling
Cup will be played between Arsenal and Ipswich Town. Moreover, Arsenal are the hot favorites’ to win this tournament after the League Cup holders, Manchester United crashed out against West Ham United in the last round. The first leg of both semi-finals will
be played on Jan 10th.
Furthermore, Birmingham City will visit Wolverhampton Wanderers for the seventeenth round of the Barclays Premier League on Sunday. Birmingham City are currently placed fourteenth in Premier League table with 18 points to their name out of 16 league games.
Birmingham City is one of the few top flight English club, with an exceptional home record. The Blues have played 8 home matches so far in this season, out of which they have won three matches, drawn four and lost only one.
Alex McLeish and his men shocked the world when they defeated current Barclays Premier League Champions, Chelsea, by one goal. Birmingham City played their last Premier League match against Harry Redknap’s Tottenham Hotspurs and managed to earn a late point
at home, thanks to their inspiring striker Gardner who headed the ball into the net in the dying minutes of the match.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Tottenham Hotspurs towering striker Peter Crouch feels that their fantastic winning run in the past two weeks has made the players start to believe they can achieve silverware this season. Tottenham have won four successive matches which includes the games
they won against their fierce rivals Arsenal, Liverpool and Werder Bremen in the Champions League. Moreover, they are unbeaten in 6 matches in all competitions, which saw them in the top Six of the Barclays Premier League.
Furthermore, their impressive form in recent days has also helped them qualify for the next round as the Group Leaders. Tottenham Hotspurs were drawn in Group A of the UEFA Champions League which was also considered the ‘Group of Death’, as it consisted
of the Italian and European Champions Inter Milan, Dutch champions Twente FC and German League runners-up Werder Bremen.
Peter Crouch said: "I remember thinking what a great week it had been after the wins against Arsenal and Bremen and knowing that getting a result against Liverpool would be fantastic. To get a last minute goal was a fantastic way to win a game, as was
the Arsenal game, and it doesn't get any better than qualifying for the next round of the Champions League. I think we're all starting to believe that we can achieve something fantastic.”
Tottenham Hotspurs drew their last match against Birmingham City at St Andrews Stadium by giving away a last minute goal. However, after 16 league games, the Spurs are placed fifth in the Barclays Premier League table with 26 points. Moreover, Harry Redknap
and his men have a tough task coming up as they will host the English Champions, Chelsea for the seventeenth league match on this Sunday.
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