After all the heroics of the
FA cup over the weekend, it’s back to business as usual in the Premiership for
the next two nights. This round of fixtures is probably the last thing any
manager wants at the minute but it does offer a chance to the teams who didn’t
play at the weekend.
Aston Villa, Norwich,
Tottenham and Liverpool will all be hurting after a humiliating weekend.
Chelsea may have scraped a replay against Brentford but Rafa Benitez will be
annoyed he was forced to bring on Mata, Azpilicueta and Ba.
 |
| Rafa Benitez urges on his side in their 2-2 draw with Brentford |
Arsenal and Everton were
also forced to send out strong sides to make sure they progressed to the next
round of the cup.
Man United, Reading and Wigan
all had the easiest of games at the weekend. QPR may have lost badly to MK Dons
but Harry Redknapp clearly had his eye on the game against Man City on Tuesday night.
Redknapp fielded a second string side against the Dons. QPR’s priorities at the
moment are on staying up in the Premier League, and quite rightly so. A decent
cup run will not save them in May.
Wigan only scraped by
against Macclesfield on Saturday but Roberto Martinez won’t mind. He made eight
changes from their last Premier League game in order to give his first choice players
a rest. The Lactics have a tough away game against Stoke on Tuesday and a break
might do them a world of good.
Martinez will have noted the recent poor run in
form from Stoke. That, coupled with the tough game on Saturday that Stoke
played against Man City, will give him hope of stealing a rare three points
from the Britannia.
 |
| Berbatov was poor against his old side |
Manchester United were
barely made to try against a Fulham side who showed no interest whatsoever in making
a game of it at Old Trafford. Ferguson has said that the FA cup is a priority
for his team this year. United haven’t won the competition since 2004 when they
beat Millwall 3-0.
Fulham’s shocking record away from home isn’t new but it was
obvious from the first minute that they were in no mood to put up a fight.Many had anticipated the
return of Dimitar Berbatov to Old Trafford but for large parts of the game he
may as well not have been there.
Fulham host West Ham at Craven Cottage on
Wednesday night. After such a miserly surrender to Manchester United, Martin
Jol faces a difficult task to get his men ready for a plucky West Ham outfit.
West Ham have had the weekend to rest and will fancy their chances of taking a
win.
 |
| Noel Hunt rises highest to score Reading's opener |
Reading too were able to
field a weakened team and run out comfortable winners against Sheffield United.
The Royals put four past United during a convincing performance. Brian McDermott
will be pleased to progress a stage further in the cup but he will have all of
his attention on Wednesday night’s game with Chelsea.
Things are beginning to get
tight at the bottom and McDermott knows if his men could sneak a point against
the blues it could prove invaluable. Chelsea were forced to use too many of
their first team players against Brentford. Reading were able to rest key players
over the weekend and they might smell a chance against a weary Chelsea side.
Liverpool will not have enjoyed
reaching such a low as losing to Oldham Athletic. Unfortunately for Brendan
Rogers there will be little time to count the costs of the defeat. His side
face a difficult trip to the Emirates on Wednesday night. Liverpool defended as
bad against Oldham as they have all year.
 |
| Walcott and Wilshere celebrate after Arsenal's third goal |
Take nothing away from Oldham but
Rogers will not be pleased by the performance of some of his players. Sebastian
Coates and Martin Skrtel both had days they will want to quickly forget. They
were bullied throughout by the young Matt Smith.
Arsenal have hit a purple
patch in recent weeks. Theo Walcott is relishing his new role as a centre
forward. He has finally found form in front of goal and he poses a real threat
playing off the shoulder. Walcott’s pace is a nightmare for any defender and
his confidence is really beginning to grow in the role.
Brendan Rogers will hope to
have Pepe Reina back for the game but if Liverpool can’t seal up the cracks at
the back that were evident on Sunday then they could be in for a tough time of
it in London.
Tuesday 29th January 2013
| BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Show last 5 matches and coverage | Fixture | Kick-off | Status |
| 19:45 | |||
|
Postponed - now being played Wed, Jan 30
| |||
| 19:45 | |||
| 19:45 | |||
| 19:45 | |||
Wednesday 30th January 2013
| BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Show last 5 matches and coverage | Fixture | Kick-off | Status |
| 19:45 | |||
| 19:45 | |||
| 19:45 | |||
| 20:00 | |||
| 20:00 | |||
| 20:00 | |||
No comments:
Post a Comment