Reading and Arsenal played out a thriller at the Madejski where Reading went 4-0 up before half-time, before Arsenal pulled it back to 4-4 at the end of 90 minutes with 2 goals in injury time. There was a definite shift in momentum by this point and Arsenal ran out 7-5 victors in an extraordinary game after extra time. Sky must have thought that their luck was in this week as the next televised game on Wednesday night between Chelsea and Man Utd and featured a further 9 goals! United were 3-2 up in the 92nd minute but a last minute Eden Hazard penalty again saw the momentum shift. Chelsea had by this point essentially thrown on their full strength team against a Man Utd substitute and reserve team with only really Rafael a first teamer in their XI. Chelsea eventually won 5-4 after extra time. Amazingly there were more goals in each of those two games than there were penalties scored between Wigan and Bradford. The Bantams, with their German-esque record in shootouts (six shootout victories in a row going into this one) clearly knew that the strategy here was to hold Wigan out for 120 minutes before dumping them out with their nerves of steel from the spot. The quarter final draw has pitted Leeds and Chelsea against each other (two clubs which deserve each other) and Bradford have a money-spinning tie at last at Valley Parade as they host Arsenal. The COCup has fast become one of the most entertaining competitions this season amazingly! Still, it's a mickey mouse cup that nobody's bothered about, right?
This weekend's action:
The Championship kicked us off with another 'cracking game' (Warnock, 2012) last night as Brighton and Leeds shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, with Paddy Kenny producing some fine stops including one from the spot and one deep into added time to deny the Seagulls all three points in front of over 26,000 at the Amex (again!). I noted that Lee Mason refereed the match last night and incredibly has now given six penalties in three days (he also took charge of the Chelsea v Man Utd league cup tie).
Fulham v Everton - This looks like it could be a decent tie, given their respective good starts to the season. Everton's sparkling early form has tailed off a little with three straight stalemates, but they've still shown plenty of quality in those draws to suggest that they aren't about to embark on any kind of slump (and, Stevie G, I can verify that Everton most certainly do not play long ball football!). As we've come to expect with the Cottagers, they've been strong at home and Berbatov and Petric have certainly hit it off with three goals each so far this campaign and we can't overlook the incredible goalscoring form of Bairdinho from the back so far this year! Everton have an excellent recent record against Fulham with five wins and a draw from the last six meetings, but for us all roads lead to a score draw this time around.
Prediction: Fulham 2-2 Everton
Norwich v Stoke - We don't feel like we've featured either of these teams too much this season so we're going to give them some attention now! This is a game between two sides out of form - they've each only won one in their last 6 league games. Stoke haven't won in 3 while Norwich did win recently against Arsenal but showed their lack of clinical edge this season in their draw against Aston Villa last weekend. In the last 6 games between the two teams Stoke definitely have the edge with 4 wins against the Canaries. In that period they've scored 10 goals to Norwich's 3. However, you can almost guarantee the game will be feisty with a total of 14 yellow cards in this period and 3 reds. Stoke haven't won in 14 attempts away from home so Norwich will be feeling that this could be a good chance for them to pick up another 3 points at Carrow Road. Both sides have averaged under 1 goal a game this season in the league (Norwich have 7 goals in 9 games, while Stoke have 8 in 9). But while Norwich have been leaking goals at over 2 a game, Stoke don't concede a lot with 9 in 9 for them. It could come down to the performances respectively of Stoke's forwards. If Stoke's forwards have a good day they should win, but if they misfire it could be Norwich's day.
Prediction: Norwich 0-1 Stoke
Crystal Palace v Blackburn - Game of the week in the Championship promises to be a real treat in South East London as 4th plays 5th. Hot on the heels of the news that Ian Holloway is set to take over at Sel'urst and on the back of an excellent run of form which continued with a fantastic 2-1 win away at Leicester last week, the Eagles host the mad chicken farmers who themselves will have new boss Henning Berg in the hotseat and have shown signs of recovery again lately by grinding out victories against struggling Sheffield Wednesday and Watford. I have been incredibly impressed by the Championship's surprise package this year so far: Palace have not lost in the league since August 25th and as well as at Leicester have claimed victory over Cardiff, Bolton and Wolves in recent weeks. With 26 goals having been scored at Selhurst Park this year, I'm expecting more of the same here. Blackburn do not roll over easily though and they are the only Championship side unbeaten on the road this year, albeit having drawn 5 of their 6 away games. We fancy another 'Desmond' here!
Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-2 Blackburn
It's the FA Cup 1st round proper this weekend in the lower echelons of the football league, and there are some intriguing encounters. Among them, Chelmsford City take on Colchester United in an all Essex derby, whilst there is the always feisty encounter of Hereford versus Shrewsbury on Sunday. Crawley Town will be glad they don't have corruption king and general criminal Steve Evans still at the club as the Met Police come to the Broadfield Stadium in an attempt to arrest the Sussex club's recent series of cup runs. Gillingham host Scunthorpe today without any detailed scouting reports on their opponents - after their scout joined the opposition's staff this week! Last night saw Cambridge City force a replay out of MK Dons.
Our teams:
Saturday's game at Gresty Road sees the FA Cup start properly for Crewe Alex as they take on Wycombe Wanderers. Both sides lost their last league outing and will be hoping to try and begin a cup run this weekend. Wycombe are however, without a win in 3 and they are the underdogs going into the game a division down from Crewe. Interestingly both sides would have been in opposite positions last year when Wycombe were relegated from League One while Crewe were promoted from League Two. Crewe have won 3 of the last 4 meetings between these sides, however, they have lost their last 4 matches in the FA Cup.
QPR take on Reading in the battle of the hoops, which ought to be viewed as a 'win or bust' for Mark Hughes. He's had plenty of mitigating circumstances with injuries and suspensions and the team have played better football than their league position suggests at times, but ultimately football is a results business and results are dictated by goals - which QPR don't score enough of, but concede to many of. I really hope Hughes goes for it in this one and stops pissing around playing one man up top at home. This has to be 4-4-2 for me.
Saturday's early game sees Man Utd host Arsenal. None of the last 6 games between the sides have ended in a draw, so our tip is not to bet on that outcome! United have won 5 of the last 6 meetings between the two and it has always seemed that they have had Arsenal's number when it comes to these games. The same fixture last season saw United run out 8-2 winners in a thrilling game, but I think you'd go a long way to get odds on that score again! United have scored 16 goals in their last 6 games against Arsenal and they will be hoping that run continues on Saturday.
Union Berlin have a massive derby game with Dynamo Dresden on Sunday. The last 2 games between these 2 have ended in a 4-0 victory for either team so that could be a decent score to bet on! Both sides are mid to lower table in II Bundesliga and Union actually sit 2 places and 3 points better off than their hosts. Union have won 5 of the last 6 games between these two teams so they will be hoping to keep up that run. Dynamo haven't won in their last 3, and both sides lost their last game so it should be an interesting battle between two sides fairly low on confidence.
Enjoy this weekend's football everyone! C is off to Loftus Road to watch QPR take on Reading on Sunday while J is travelling to the world famous Highbury Stadium to see Fleetwood Town take on Bromley in the magic of the FA Cup First Round. Look out for match reviews and the weekend review over the next week or so!
C&J
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