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The Third Round Proper of the ‘Budweiser’ FA Cup.

The weekend is upon us and the hectic fixture list shows no signs of easing off just yet so it will be interesting to see who fields who and just how seriously one of the most prestigious cups in the world is taken.

Tottenham Hotspur’s success this season has been built upon achieving the consistency against weaker sides that previous seasons have sorely lacked. So Cheltenham at 16/1 doesn’t offer value so much as reflect reality. Spurs have been itching to thump someone (other than Liverpool) this season and if this isn’t it then White Hart Lane will get very frosty. Prediction 2-0.

Fulham have had a mixed time of this season. But Martin Jol’s feel good factor will still be considerably revived after the sensational late win against Arsenal in the Barclay’s Premier League. Charlton are top of League One and will relish the chance of showing their fellow Londoners they can play. Jol doesn’t have much depth of squad so Chris Powell is likely to have his work cut put. Prediction 2-0.

Norwich City are having a great season back in the Premiership. Their support home and away have been nothing short of a credit. Paul Lambert has run a creditable operation given the size of the task that has been placed before him and Norwich sit 9th in the league. Burnley have been scrambling since Owen Coyle left and currently hover in 10th spot in the championship. With virtually an entire division separating the two sides it’s difficult to see an away win. Prediction 1-0.

Newcastle United vs Blackburn Rovers could quite possibly be a classic FA Cup game. The Toon’s fortunes were revived with a brilliant recent win over Manchester United and a cup run may just suit Alan Pardew. Steve Kean will probably be happy to pay away again and so concentrate on playing football opposed to ignoring the noisy idiots who call themselves fans, yet spend every game trying to wreck their team’s morale. Prediction 2-1.

Everton host Tamworth. Tamworth are 14th in the Blue Square Premier League and without being too dismissive this might be a good opportunity for David Moyes to let his boys have a relatively uninhibited run out and flex a few muscles. Prediction 3-0.

Arsenal face Leeds and if Arsene Wenger was completely honest he’d acknowledge he needs this game like a hole in the head. Leeds’ away form is barely distinguishable from their home and whilst they might be 8th in the Championship, they will travel with mind to box well above their weight. Prediction 2-2.

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Tottenham will be eager to dish out some payback on league leaders Manchester City when they travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Roberto Mancini’s men thrashed Spurs 5-1 in September and should be fearful of a backlash from the North Londoners. Despite a slight wobble in recent weeks City remain comfortable at the top three clear or rivals United and six ahead of Harry Redknapp’s side. Having spent much of the season playing breathtakingly exciting football their win at Wigan on Monday night owed much to their ability to dig in and grid out results. The loss of Vincent Kompany to suspension has hit them hardest in recent week with youngster Stefan Savic struggling to adapt to the pace and physicality’s of the English game. However the grit and determination displayed at the DW Stadium will go a long way for City as they aim to bag their first ever Premier League title. Their record at the Etihad Stadium is perfect after 10 wins in a row whilst they scored 31 goals and conceded only four. They’ll need another valiant display on Sunday if they are to maintain that unbeaten home record and put some distance between themselves and their third placed visitors.

It’s been an unbelievable campaign for Spurs as they continue to stay involved in the title race. Redknapp will be desperate for his side to enact some revenge on City after the White Hart Lane mauling they suffered although since that game they’ve won from 14 out of the 19 subsequent fixtures losing just once. Since then Tottenham have been irresistible and deservedly sit in the top three just two victories away from top spot. Despite being held at home to Wolves last week they will be confident of toppling the league leaders on their own patch especially with Scott Paker and Luka Modric resuming their midfield partnership. The signing of Parker in the summer was seen as the final piece of Redknapp’s jigsaw as it would allow Modric to concentrate on creating goals instead of worrying about fulfilling his defensive duties. The Croatian has been a driving force in attack linking up to great effect with Gareth Bale and Emmanuel Adebayor whilst Parker sits back and cuts out any threat from the opposition. The duo will be key to keeping City’s midfield three quiet on Sunday as well as getting wingers Bale and Aaron Lennon into the game and providing killer balls for Jermaine Defoe who will start in place of Adebayor who can’t play against his parent club.

Manchester City 1st : 51 points

Last six: W W L D W W

Team news: Vincent Kompany is still serving a ban and misses out alongside Micah Richards who has a hamstring injury. Mario Balotelli could feature despite picking up an ankle knock.

Key Player: David Silva

After spending much of Christmas on the sidelines the silky Spaniard roared back into life on Monday against Wigan. City will be grateful that Silva has finally recovered from injury and he’ll be sure to make up for lost time against Tottenham on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur 3rd : 46 points

Last six: D W W D W D

Team news: Spurs have seven first team players out injured for their trip to the Etihad Stadium whilst Emmanuel Adebayor will be missing as he isn’t permitted to play against his parent club.

Key Player: Luka Modric

Breaking down a City defence that has conceded just four times at home will be extremely difficult but a challenge Modric will savour. The Croatian has been superb for Tottenham this season as they aim to close the gap on the league leaders.

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PREDICTION

City’s record at the Etihad Stadium is phenomenal but they’ve been shaky of late and Vincent Kompany’s absence continues to haunt them. Spurs will see an opportunity to write the wrongs of the 5-1 they took in September and inflict a first home defeat of the season on Roberto Mancini’s men.

Score 2-2

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Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has stated that the senior players at the club support Andre Villas Boas, and that he did not give a team talk against Birmingham.

The Ivory Coast international was seen trying to motivate his fellow players at half time of the Stamford Bridge club’s FA Cup clash with Chris Hughton’s men, which the media have speculated belittles the role of manager Villas Boas.

However, Drogba has issued a statement of support for the Portuguese trainer.

“I want to make things clear – the manager made the speech at half-time and after that I think he’s got some leaders in the team,” the African forward said in a press conference, published on Sky Sports.

“We are here to help him. After that we were trying to bring the team up after half-time and nothing more.

“We did what the manager wanted us to do and apply what he was saying.

“I think people are making a big thing about nothing,” he stated.

Drogba’s sentiments were backed up by Daniel Sturridge, who has rubbished claims that their is a division within the club and admitted that he is confident going into Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Napoli.

“I don’t think it is a defining week for the club but hopefully we don’t get in the same situation as against Birmingham where we have to come from behind,” he told the side’s official website.

“We are all together as one and we are not a divided unit. We are a family and we’ve got a good unit going here and I think maybe we will see that in the next few games.

“We have to go out there with the attitude that they have got to worry about what we have got.

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“I am certainly not worried about that and we are going out there with the state of mind that we can win the game and play some good football, maybe get some more opportunities and put them away,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill has warned his players that they cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal just yet, after a downturn of form of late.

The Black Cats faced a relegation battle when the Northern Irishman took over at the Stadium of Light in December, but the inspirational coach has led the Wearside club up into the top half of the table.

However, Sunderland have not been at their best of late, and were beaten 2-0 by Everton at home in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday night; O’Neill has told the squad to buck up their ideas.

“Having reached 40 points, there’s absolutely no way we can afford to rest on our laurels. We’ve got to push on, and we can’t start to think about an early summer holiday,” he told Mirror Football.

“Back in December, if you’d offered me 40 points at the end of the season – never mind with eight games to go – I’d have been delighted.

“Back then, the chances are you might even have twisted my arm to accept 38. When I took over, the situation we’re in today looked a decent way off,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Ahead of their second leg Champions League semi final against Barcelona in the Nou Camp, Chelsea might feel a little confident that this weekend’s Clasico will hit Barcelona for six, one way or another. They might also find inspiration from teams such as Sevilla going to the Nou Camp back in October and getting a 0-0 result. But ultimately, the only way forward for Chelsea in this tie is to attack.

At this stage, with an unlikely lead to protect against one of the world’s most devastating attacks, it only seems rational to go into the Nou Camp and park the bus, plane, and any other large unit that may come in handy. But games like Sevilla’s 0-0 should be seen as the exception. A game in which goalkeeper Javi Varas was the undoubted man of the match, denying Lionel Messi from the penalty spot in the 94th minute. Yes Sevilla parked the bus, and Freddie Kanoute did all he could to further frustrate the Catalans. But if there was game for Chelsea to use as a template heading into next week, it should be either Athletic Bilbao’s 2-2 draw in the Basque country, or Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

On both occasions Barcelona were given a much more open game than they’re used to. Playing at high tempos from one end to the other doesn’t suit Barcelona’s style of slow and patient build-up play. And it certainly doesn’t help when one of their key assets in their attack in Dani Alves is stuck in his own half defending the advances from the opposition.

Both 2-2 draws were slightly different affairs in the bigger picture, but ultimately neither Bilbao nor Madrid had anything to lose. With that mentality they were able to pin Barcelona back and stop them dictating the game in a fashion they’re comfortable with. Chelsea, on the other hand, do have a lot to lose. But losing their lead seems almost guaranteed as Barcelona have not failed to score at home since the visit of Sevilla.

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It has been brought up a number of times since Chelsea’s surprise victory on Wednesday night that Chelsea got everything spot on tactically and suffocated the space in their own half. To an extent that’s true, but it doesn’t disguise the twenty four shots Barcelona had, or the lion’s share of possession. Instead, it highlighted the deficiencies in this Barcelona team. A team who are completely lacking any alternative options when a game becomes difficult. It would be completely foolish on Chelsea’s part to believe that will be the case the second time around next week.

Barcelona will be expecting a team to sit with 10 men behind the ball and afford them the time and space to meticulously prod and probe the Chelsea defence for gaps. What they won’t expect is a team to go out and genuinely give them a tough time and go looking for more goals.

There’s no denying that Barcelona’s defence has holes and weaknesses. Javier Mascherano has been preferred as the regular centre back for Guardiola this season, and he’s been a success for the most part against La Liga opposition. A player unlikely to see many games ahead of Sergio Busquets in his favoured position, he’s managed to excel in a less familiar role. But there were noticeable problems against Chelsea and Didier Drogba. The Barcelona backline are not used to dealing with aerial long balls, and that combined with the presence of Drogba forced a number of uncertain moments for the centre backs.

In much the same way, Athletic Bilbao were able to pressure the Barcelona back four with their pressing high up the pitch. Marcelo Biesla has transformed that team into much more than just a long ball team with Fernando Llorente at the tip of the sword. Instead, they’re forced to press the opposition when in possession. Real Madrid did the same thing when the tie seemed over in the Copa del Rey and it highlighted that Barcelona can’t handle the kind of pressure they like to impose on their opponents.

Again, while it has been done before, it would be almost surrendering the game if Chelsea were to go into this game with a defensive mind. They’re certainly not going to see much of the ball, but that shouldn’t discourage them from pushing bodies forward when an opportunity does arise.

Roberto di Matteo’s team have pace, power, and goals in them that would frustrate Barcelona and put them under enormous pressure.

With seemingly the Champions League as the top priority for the season, there’s very little chance of Barcelona not scoring on the night, regardless of Chelsea’s defiant backline. The only option for Chelsea on the night is to score more.

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Do you fancy playing on the pitch at Stamford Bridge?

After seeing some of the response on the internet to Saturday’s 4-0 defeat to Blackpool I think we need to calm down and actually get to grips with where we are as a club.

We had a fantastic but also somewhat lucky season in 2009 where we reached the Premier League, much of the money from that season paid off debts and parachute payments have been used to cover costs of being relegated, on the wages for players like Andre Bikey and bigger contracts for the likes of Jay Rodriguez. Brian Laws was a mistake and Eddie Howe has had a bigger rebuilding job – I’d like to think we can agree on that.

As for now, we have a big problem with our supporters. The away fans this season as always have been fantastic and remained behind the team. However our home support (which has significantly dwindled since the Premier League) I can only describe as embarrassing. Often the atmosphere has felt flat and with a team trying to develop a new playing style, that is incredibly frustrating for those of us who do get behind the team!

After the Blackpool game I had a brief look on Twitter and regret doing so. Some of the idiotic comments on the #twitterclarets hashtag were just pointless. As as for our messageboards this season, well lord give me strength.

Let’s see where we are at for next season. We’ve got a pretty strong base in our team with good young and hungry players that are getting close to adapting a style similar to the likes of Wigan and Swansea who have won rave reviews this season at times in the top flight. I’ve been pretty pleased with the Austin/Ings partnership and with the extra forwards such as Paterson we have at our disposal I’m not totally worried about the loss of Jay Rodriguez.

The defence (with the exception of Saturday) has been looking fairly strong of late and that is a sign for a better start to next season than this. With a couple of sensible additions then I think we can make this even better, I for one am very happy with the initial signs of Danny Lafferty. The supporters baiting and criticism has helped to ruin the Burnley career of Brian Easton who I wish the best of luck with another club.

With some strong youngsters coming through the ranks, whom I hope to break through to the first team squad, I think we have the potential for an excellent season. Our finest moments have come with the backing of the fans, 10 away wins this season is testament to our away support, so let’s get behind the boys and help them to a prosperous 2012/13.

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To start this transformation I suggest fans get out in force for the final home game of the season vs. Bristol City to not only start getting behind the boys but also pay tribute to two of our major forces in the boardroom. Barry Kilby and Paul Fletcher, who have offered a great deal to this club over the years, let’s pay tribute to them!

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QPR have given their chances of avoiding relegation a real boost by picking up three points against Stoke at Loftus Road on Sunday.

With the game heading towards a stalemate, Djibril Cisse scored a dramatic 89th minute winner for the London club to move them out of the relegation zone and within a point of safety.

Mark Hughes was relieved to get the victory, but is eager to secure survival with a result away to Manchester City on the last day of the season next weekend.

“We have to go to Man City and play out of our skins and hope that they have a little bit of a bad day, and a bit of nerves because of their own situation and maybe we can get something out of it,” Hughes told Sky Sports.

“Obviously today was key from our point of view, we had to make sure we gave ourselves a chance in the last game and we have done that.

“Let’s see what happens, maybe it was in the stars and everybody was waiting for the last fixture.

“I know when I looked at what the last game was when I got the job, you think that maybe that will be a game of significance. But maybe not many people thought it would be so huge for both clubs,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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It seems just a fleeting juncture since Liverpool’s Joe Cole was a shining beacon of talent at both club and international level. A Premier League Champion at Chelsea and the protracted answer to England’s perpetual left midfield quandary. Fast forward to 2012 and the London-born player is returning from a foreign hiatus that saw him attempt to re-align his wavering career; his move to Liverpool tainted with miserly playing time. An impassioned season-long loan spell across the channel with Lille has put Cole back into the frame at parent club. Italian Alberto Aquilani has faced a similar torrid time during his Anfield career thus far. Lacklustre performances unsettled the midfielder and a return to his homeland seemed ominous. Following spells at Juventus and Milan, Aquilani is now back on Merseyside. With new manager Brendan Rodgers at the helm, will the return of Cole and Aquilani become comparable to new signings or will the duo yet again fail to deliver what is required?

Rodgers’ astute tactics and positive footballing philosophy are unquestionably the two prominent reasons that the vacancy at Anfield was offered to him. At Swansea, the Northern Irishman lit up the Premier League with his offensive, possession based tactics. Hoping to bring a similar philosophy to Liverpool, certain men on the roster at Anfield may feel more secure of playing time than others. Rodgers’ tactics tend to be focused around an extremely fluid version of the 4-3-3 formation. With one striker playing a lone role and two wide set attacking midfielders to support. A reasonably rigid 3 in midfield complete the attacking half of the pitch. With a distinct lack of wide set attacking midfielders in Liverpool’s squad, especially now with Dirk Kuyt having moved to pastures new, Joe Cole may be the perfect man to fit into Rodgers’ plans. The former West Ham man plays in a similar vein to that of Nathan Dyer, Scott Sinclair and Wayne Routledge; three players that Rodgers used in the aforementioned wide set attacking midfield role for Swansea. Cole may also adapt well to the required position thanks to a similar role being appointed to him at Lille. The French club used Cole and Hazard as the two wide attacking players, assisting the lone man up front. His said experience of a similar position across the channel in addition to his natural poise as a wide attacking midfielder could see him catapult straight into a team that had practically thrown him out not a year ago.

To fit Alberto Aquilani into the new Liverpool/Rodgers system, some central midfielders may have to search for first team football elsewhere. With Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam, Jay Spearing, Jordan Henderson, Lucas Leiva and Jonjo Shelvey already jostling for position, the return of Aquilani leaves Rodgers with 7 central midfielders and just 3 spots to fill. Should players such as Shelvey and Spearing depart, the Italian could make a real impact as the beating heart of Anfield’s new era. At Swansea the ”volante de salida” position was taken up by Leon Britton. A tactic based upon the style of football displayed by Barcelona heavyweight Xavi, the ”output wheel” as it is literally translated is required to break up opposition play and release the ball through astute passing. It would have to be assumed that Steven Gerrard would take a more offensive position in Rodgers’ formation, so this unenviable role may go to the returning Aquilani. His time in Italy indicates that he is a good passer of the ball and while he may not have the luxury of time in the English game, the Italian has the credentials to at least audition for the position.

With undoubted movement in and out of Anfield this summer, the return of Cole and Aquilani will probably pass by some fans unnoticed. However, should Rodgers take an interest in bringing the outcasted duo back into the frame, they may become more noticeable than ever before.

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Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has stated that there has been no further progression over a possible move for Robin van Persie and the sale of existing strikers at the club is not expected.

The Premier League champions have been linked with a move for the Dutch marksman, who is out of contract at the Emirates Stadium in less than a year and is reluctant to sign a new deal.

Despite this the Italian trainer does not want to speculate over a possible move, and does not intend to sell a number of fringe players.

“Van Persie? He is an Arsenal player and I don’t want to disrespect Arsene Wenger,” Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.

“We have four strikers and we will start the preseason in five days, it’s unlikely there will be major changes in such a short time.

“The same goes for Dzeko, his farewell is not expected The interest of Juventus for him? It will be difficult that Edin goes away.

“Kolarov? I myself wanted him at City, he is a great player. If it depends on me, he would remain at the City. I’d love to have him again in the next season but I cannot impose myself on his will.

“Tevez will remain here unless he wants to change team,” Mancini concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Manchester United winger Nani could make a shock transfer to Real Madrid, according to Talk Sport.

The 25 year old still has two years remaining on his contract at Old Trafford, and whilst his club remain confident of him renewing his current deal, Real Madrid could pounce on United’s lack of urgency and try to persuade the Portuguese star to come to the Bernabeu.

The supposed bid is reported to be in the region of £19 million, and could be accelerated as Nani’s agent is also the agent of Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The earlier summer signing of Shinji Kagawa could leave Nani out of the Manchester United starting eleven, and a move to join his fellow countrymen in the Spanish capital could suit the Portuguese starlet.

However, money laden Russian team Anzi Makhachkala are also said to be interested in Nani, and a significant wage increase will be used to tempt him to make the move.

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Nani has scored 37 times for the Red Devils since joining from Sporting Lisbon 5 years ago, having been bought to compliment Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford. Now, the pair could be reunited in the La Liga champions squad.