Carling Cup; 4th round preview (Part 2)
Ipswich Town FC vs. Northampton Town FC
Football League Championship side Ipswich Town FC host Football League Two side Northampton Town FC, for a place in the next round of the Football League Cup, on Tuesday.
Ipswich Town will be pleased to play in front of their home crowd after 7 consecutive away ties in the League Cup. Ipswich manager Roy Keane will also be looking to help his side advance to the quarterfinals of Carling Cup, for
the first time since 2001. The Manchester United legend has not tasted The League Cup success in his playing days.
Roy Keane is under pressure from Ipswich fans after having lost 4 out 5 league games, but the Irishman remains optimistic.
He said, “As much as we're disappointed with the past week, if we win tomorrow we're in a quarter final and we're still only three points off the play-offs. Let's get the balance right and try and look at it as the glass half full
rather than half empty.”
Although Keane will fancy his team’s chances of winning against The Cobblers - the lowest ranked side left in the competition, he must be wary of Northampton’s achievements in this season’s League Cup. The League Two side has beaten
higher lying teams in their past three cup fixtures. Northampton have beaten Brighton FC 2-0 and Reading FC on penalties, before pulling off a shock result against Liverpool. The Cobblers emerged victorious at Anfield against The Reds on a penalty shootout,
after the match ended 2-2 at the end of 120 minutes.
Northampton, however, come to Portman Road on a run of poor results in their league. The Cobblers have conceded five consecutive league defeats, leaving them at the bottom of League Two.
Leicester City vs. West Bromwich Albion
English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion, travel to Walkers stadium for the 4th round tie of the League Cup against Leicester City FC.
Leicester City have won the competition 3 times during their history; in 1964, 1997 and 2000. Their last two cup successes came under their former manager, Martin O’Neill. The Foxes have not been able to reach the 4th round
in 10 years, and Leicester’s new manager Sven-Goran Eriksson will be hoping his side makes it to the last 8 of the competition this time around. Leicester City edged past Portsmouth FC 2-1, in the previous round.
West Brom manager, Roberto Di Matteo, might give a start to striker partners Roman Bednar and Simon Cox, after injuries to first choice forwards, Peter Odemwingie and Marc-Antoine Fortune.
The Baggies will be confident of their chances of advancing into the quarters, as they knocked out Manchester City at The Hawthorns to make their way into the 4th round.
West Brom have previously faced The Foxes twice in The League Cup; in 1969 and 1980, with The Throstles coming out victorious on both occasions.
Wigan Athletic FC vs. Swansea City
English Premier League side Wigan Athletic will take on Swansea City at the DW Stadium in the 4th round of the Carling Cup tie.
With Wigan welcoming back their first choice goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, Boss Roberto Martinez will have to choose between his goalkeepers, Al-Habsi and Chris Kirkland. Kirkland was between the goal posts on Saturday, against Bolton
Wanderers and managed to put out a decent performance.
Martinez, a former Swansea player and manager, will face The Jacks for the first time, after he left the club to become Wigan’s manager in June 2009. The Spanish manager guided the Swans to Football League One success, and promoted
them to The Football League Championship. However, his departure from the club left the fans in fury, and Martinez expects a reaction from The Swans faithful when the two teams meet on Tuesday night.
He said, “You cannot control the reaction. I am sure there is going to be a lot of emotions but that is a good thing in football, that there are no indifferent feelings.”
Swansea have never managed to get past the 4th round of the League cup, but they travel to the DW Stadium on a run of satisfactory League Cup results, winning 7 out 10 matches. The Latics had made it to the final of
the competition in 2006, where they lost to Manchester United 4-0.
The two clubs have faced each other 18 times in their history; Wigan have won 9 of them while Swansea were victorious 7 times.
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