Monday 5 January20:00 Blyth Spartans v Blackburn Rovers, FA Cup 3rd Round, Setanta Sports 1
Setanta have developed a habit of hiring actors to deliver corny monologues prior to some of their bigger live games, Danny Dyer's cringe-worthy effort before the Belarus v England game being a hideous example. Given the inherent romance of this quintessential 'David meets Goliath' Cup tie, it hardly seems necessary to add further layers of cheese. However, given the unbridled northern-ness of the encounter, I predict an out-of work ex-Corrie actor reciting some loathsome Alan Bennett durge just before the final ad break. That and a score draw.
Tuesday 6 January
19:45 Weymouth v York City, Blue Square Premier, Setanta Sports 1
Lower mid-table clash between two sides with only one win in the last five between them. The form book just tips York as does the head-to-head. Weymouth have never beaten City in the League.
20:00 Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley, Carling Cup Semi-final 1st Leg Sky Sports 1/HD1
Spurs have kept their 'Cup Specialist' tag. Still going in all competitions, Harry's team will feel in good shape to take on Burnley over two legs. Owen Coyle's men have had a rough Christmas and will hope to keep Tottenham's score down so they can have a crack at them at Turf Moor.
Wednesday 7 January
19:45 Derby County v Manchester United, Carling Cup Semi-final 1st Leg, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Will Nigel Clough be the manager of The Rams by Wednesday? If so, will he appoint Peter Taylor as his assistant? One thing is certain. Derby's League Cup dream ends at Old Trafford.
Thursday 8 January
19:45 Woking v Northwich, Blue Square Premier, Setanta Sports 1
Woking are unbeaten in five but all those pesky draws means they're languishing near the foot of the table. Three points against bottom club Victoria should move them up the table, for the time being.
Tottenham take on Burnley on Tuesday, coming from a 3-1 win over Wigan on Friday which quite impressed me. However, Darren Bent is now out injured, and Spurs have very few fit players to spare with many sitting on the bench that have not started or featured at all this season. Aaron Lennon has probably returned to full fitness, and Ledley King will probably start the match too, giving a huge boost to Spurs. Redknapp will be all out to win the Carling Cup and will be fielding his strongest team possible I believe.
ReplyDeleteBurnley had a bright start to their Championship campaign, and impressed me with wins over Chelsea and Arsenal in this cup. Normally I would not hesitate to take them to produce an upset, but they had two quite disastrous games over Christmas against Doncaster and Barnsley, both of whom sit near the bottom of the table. They have a very acute personnel crisis, with only 17 fit players available for their lacklustre 0-0 draw with QPR in the FA Cup. The situation is improving, with Jordan returning from suspension and McCann & McDonald possibly shaking off injuries to feature. In my opinion they will probably set up more conservatively than they have against Chelsea or Arsenal, play for the draw, and then make a stronger performance at home in 2 weeks time when more players are back from injury.
Well Burnley certainly started off brightly last night, Boon, but Spurs showed their class in the end.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if Burnley end up in the Championship play-offs at the end of this season, though. Owen Coyle's got them well organised and playing some good stuff these days.
Pity Rob Hulse didn't make that 'easy' chance to bring an unlikely 2-0 scoreline for Derby after leg one. The Rams were surpringly fluid, just shows what a good manager Jewell is/was eh?
ReplyDeleteTT
Indeed so, TT. Good result for The Rams - all set up nicely for the second leg, methinks...
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