FA Cup Preview
It’s off to Wembley for the FA cup semi-finals this weekend, which is wrong. The semis should be in neutral territory, but of course the fat-cats at the FA have to suck every last coin out of the cash-cow, showing scant regard for tradition, respect for the tournament, the fans or the teams.
If there is a penny left to be made then the FA will swarm all over it, it’s akin to someone at a weight-watchers meeting finding a grain of sugar. So when the corporate’s don’t bother turning up, or don’t make it back from the half-time buffet and we see the familiar sight of the empty red seats in the middle of the stadium, blame the FA. The Idiots.
Regardless of that, this weekend promises to throw up a couple of decent matches as we reach the business-end of the tournament. Last year’s winners Chelsea face Aston Villa, while 2008 champions Portsmouth have a tricky encounter against Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Aston Villa must be going into this match full of confidence, having only narrowly lost 7-1 to Chelsea a fortnight ago. They will be aiming for a much improved result, however psychologically that score will still be fresh in the minds of both sets of players and it could cause serious ripples in the confidence of the Villains.
Since late January, Aston Villa have not really looked in great form. They should count their lucky stars they even made it to the semis, after Reading gifted them the quarters with 10 minutes of utter madness. The Royals were by far the better team on the day and threw away a 2-0 lead against a poor Aston Villa side.
Recently Villa haven’t been closing down games and have only been scraping the odd good result among dreary defeats. They have looked toothless in attack in recent weeks, Gabriel Agbonlahor’s form has completely dropped off and they have needed big performances from the likes of James Milner, John Carew, James Collins and Richard Dunne to guide them through the storm. Dunne misses out tomorrow with a sore Achilles, a massive blow for Villa as he is the bedrock that their defence is built upon. Emile Heskey faces a late fitness test, which probably won’t bother Villa fans too much.
Ominously for Villa, Chelsea are on top form at the moment. Since crashing out the Champions League they have gone all guns blazing into their other endeavours, the 7-1 win against Villa came sandwiched between a 5-0 victory over Portsmouth and a crucial 2-1 victory over Manchester United. Put simply they are the form team in the country at the moment.
Worse news still for Aston Villa as Chelsea should welcome back the unstoppable force that is Didier Drogba after he was “rested” against Manchester United. The Drog coming in is going to ring the panic alarms for Villa and it’s where they will miss Dunne the most. A big man up against the big man is the only hope in stopping the Ivorian goal-machine as he continues his great season that has seen him plunder 31 goals in 37 games. Branislav Ivanovic could be on for a comeback, but Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien and Jose Bosingwa will all miss out with long-term injuries.
You can’t look past a Chelsea win here, never rule anything out of the FA Cup, but with the form The Blues have been on it could be comprehensive once again. Villa’s main hope will come from their creative midfield but their patchwork defence will struggle against a free scoring Chelsea side. Villa have already had one trip to Wembley this season, this will be their last.
Prediction: Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0
Tottenham v Portsmouth
It’s the Harry Redknapp derby once again. Half the Spurs team were once the Portsmouth team and so this match has a “ghost of Christmas past” like quality to it. Portsmouth fans will spy across at Spurs and imagine what could have been as their team hobbles from one disaster to a next. It may be worth bearing in mind it was many of the squad that helped cripple the club finically.
This is the sort of thing that would normally inspire a team to glory in the FA Cup and if there is going to be an upset this weekend, you would have thought it would be here.
However you look at the Pompey squad player-for-player and you soon see that that will be an exceptionally tall order.
Surely Portsmouth have used up all their cup luck now anyway? Their win in 2008 followed the easiest cup run in history, granted they beat Manchester United, but with a hefty slice of luck, scoring a penalty against Rio Ferdinand isn’t exactly Roy of the Rovers stuff. Other than that it was plain sailing for the south coast side and this year they have had a similar fortuitous run.
As for Spurs it’s about time they won something proper. The odd Carling Cup every few years doesn’t really justify their outlay; a team of accountants recently estimated they have spent billions in the last 10 years on sub-standard players. Where do they get all their money from? Every now and then they sell off a second-rate player to Manchester United for well over the odds, other than that where does it come from? They are splashing out all the time, £12million for Wilson Palacios, £15million for Jermaine Defoe, £16.6million for Luka Modric; did Daniel Levy rob a bank?
Maybe this will be the day they finally get to a major final. If they can’t beat Portsmouth this weekend then they never will win anything, ever again. Pompey have dragged their rag-and-bones squad through the 2009/10 season, they are groggy, weary and I think they just want things to be over. Its Cinderella stuff if they do get through, but its more than likely going to be another pumpkin in this season of disappoint for the Hampshire outfit.
Portsmouth have basically all their team out injured currently - Nadir Belhadj, Tommy Smith, David James and Tal Ben Haim all face late fitness tests - while Jamie O’Hara can’t play against his parent club.
Spurs have former Pompey man Younes Kaboul cup-tied while Aaron Lennon and Matt Dawson are serious doubts for the game.
Can you look past a Spurs win? No, not really. Prior to their defeat at Sunderland last weekend, they have been on a great run of form. They have goal scorers in the guise of Defoe, Peter Crouch, Roman Pavlyuchenko, while Modric and co can pop up from midfield. Meanwhile Portsmouth have Aruna Dindane and Frederic Piquionne. Enough said really.
The Smart money is on an all London final, but everybody knows the FA Cup is never as clear cut as that.
Prediction: Tottenham 2 Portsmouth 1
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