Arsene Wenger Hoping Arsenal Can Bring Home The Cup

Filed under Admin, League Cup, League Cup Final by on February 27, 2011 at 3:58 pm {no comments}

The Silverware cleaner at the Emerites stadium has not been overworked of late , however Arsenal will be hoping to end their 5 year wait for a trophy.

They face fellow Premier League side Birmingham City in the League Cup Final and will be hoping to improve on their poor record in these finals having only won 2 of their 6 attempts, including a loss to Swindon Town back in 1969. Birmingham on the other hand have not had the Gunners success and their only major trophy was the League Cup back in 1963 when they beat neighbours Aston Villa 3-1 over 2 legs.

Arsenal have in past seasons not given this competition the respect it deserves, however this year they have looked determined to win it and with a strong squad named for todays final they are justifiable favourites.

Our view is that they will win by the odd goal so ending their trophy drought. They are still in with a chance in all four major competitions this year and like Manchester United and Chelsea in the past the confidence gained by having the first on the shelf could spur them on to bigger an better things.

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Birmingham Fight Back For Place In League Cup Final

Filed under Admin, League Cup by on January 27, 2011 at 10:06 am {no comments}

This tie looked all over at half time after West Ham had dominated play and taken a 3-1 aggregate lead thanks to a lovely strike by Carlton Cole, however as has been seen all to frequently by West Ham fans this season, the game is never won until the end, and so it was again here.

The second half was a complete transformation with Birmingham by far the better team and it was no surprise when West Ham old boy Lee Bowyer pulled a goal back after 59 minutes. West ham looked increasingly edgy there after and when defender Roger Johnson leveled the aggregate score the writing was on the wall for the Hammers.

In injury time Craig Gardner who had rattled the woodwork a couple of times earlier made it time lucky when firing home the winner to set up a Final clash with Arsenal. This is Birmingham’s first major final in a long time and on their second half form they will give Arsenal a good game.

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Birmingham V West Ham League Cup Semi Final

Filed under Admin, League Cup by on January 26, 2011 at 10:20 am {one comment}

West Ham take a slender 2-1 lead into tonight’s League Cup semi final second leg tie at Birmingham, as manager Avram Grant seeks to emulate his achievements of last season when he took eventually relegated Portsmouth to Wembley in the FA Cup Final.

West Ham are having a poor league season but have been terrific in the Cup winning their last 6 ties and despite being without Frederic Piquionne who was suspended due to his controversial dismissal for celebrating with fans at the weekend and Victor Obinna also suspended they will be in good heart for this game.

Birmingham are not having a great season either and are coming off the back of a 5-0 drubbing at Manchester United at the weekend. They will be without on loan midfielder David Bentley as he is cup tied but Cameron Jerome should be fit again after his hamstring injury.

This could be a close game however we expect the Hammers to hold out and make it an all London Final.

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League Cup Quarter Finals Draw

Filed under League Cup by on October 31, 2010 at 3:47 pm {no comments}

A repeat of last years final is still on the cards as Manchester United and Aston Villa avoided each other in the quarter final draw.  Manchester United have a winnable tie away to West Ham, while Aston Villa have a local derby at neighbours Birmingham which should guarantee a huge crowd.

Arsenal will be happy enough with Wigan at home and if Wenger decides to put out a few 1st teamers they should be in the Semis.

The most intriguing tie is Ipswich v West Brom and given both will be going all out to win this one it will give an indication of how great the gap is becoming between the Championship and the money bags Premier League.

The draw is below with our predicted last 4 marked *

*Arsenal v Wigan
Birmingham v Aston Villa*
West Ham v Manchester United*
Ipswich v West Brom*

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Newcastle Win League Cup Thriller at Stamford Bridge

Filed under League Cup by on September 23, 2010 at 10:10 am {no comments}
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The League Cups match up of the round lived up to its billing as Newcastle finally grabbed a 4-3 win at Chelsea thanks to a last gasp goal from Shola Ameobi. An expectant crowd of 41,511 didn’t have long to wait for the game to get going and it was no surprise when Patrick van Aanholt fired Chelsea ahead after 6 minutes. The lead lasted until the 27th minute, and a further 1st half goal sent Newcastle in 2-1 ahead at half time.  Ameobi fired Newcastle 3-1 ahead early in the second half, and with Chelsea down to 10 men thanks to running out of substitutes the game looked over. However Anelka had other ideas and he pulled a goal back in the 70th minute and then fired home a penalty with 3 minutes left to tie the scores.

Then the final twist, with extra time beckoning and Chelsea starting to look like taking control Shola Ameobi popped up with a glancing header from a corner to grab the winner.

Chelsea will feel slightly unlucky having rattled the post from Ferreira with the scores at 3-3 and can point to the fact they played much of the second half with only 10 men, however the record books will show Newcastle as the winners and thats all that matters to the Toon army who will know the League Cup offers their only realistic chance of Silver Ware this season.

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London & Lancashire Derby Matches In League Cup 3rd Round

Filed under League Cup by on September 21, 2010 at 10:15 am {no comments}

Tonight’s League Cup 3rd round has thrown up two great ties with the biggest being the London Derby between Champions League contenders Tottenham & Arsenal, teams who would have been expected to progress to the latter stages had they not been paired at this stage. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal treat this game, having traditionally used the League Cup as an opportunity to give their youth players some experience. Given they are bitter rivals capitulating by putting out a weakened squad might not go down well with the Arsenal faithful and is a bit of an insult to the competition. Given the trophy drought for Arsenal one would expect them to go all out for this one. The two clubs met in the semi finals in 2007 and 2008 resulting in one win each. If as expected Arsenal stick out their youth team then Tottenham should progress.

The other notable match is the Lancashire Derby between championship challengers Burnley & Bolton which although not a glamorous as the Tottenham match will still attract a lot of interest. This will be their 1st league cup meeting and extra interest has been added by the slightly acrimonious circumstances surrounding Manager Owen Coyle’s move from Burnley to Bolton. The fact that popular striker Robbie Blake followed him didn’t help and it will be an interesting to see what type of welcome the two receive. As with most local derbies this could be a close game but given that Bolton will be taking the competition seriously they should just about prevail.

The Tottenham game will be screened live on Sky while the Burnley game will probably be available on local radio if you fancy listening to it.

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Great Night For MK Dons In Carling Cup

Filed under League Cup by on August 25, 2010 at 9:18 am {no comments}
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The MK Dons snatched a win in extra time to record the nights best win in the 2010 Carling Cup second round. Ahead after only a minute an 3-1 up early in the second half, they had to survive a determined Blackpool fightback before winning 4-3.

Blackpool were the only Premier League casualties on the night although Wolves had to wait until the last minute of extra time to ensure they didn’t face the lottery of penalties against League 2 strugglers Southend. Defender Richard Stearman grabbed Wolves winner scrambling the ball over the line seconds after Southend could have won the game themselves but Josh Simpson shot tamely at the keeper when clean through.

The rest of the night was largely uneventful with the only other surprise being Northampton winning on penalties at Reading.

Sadly the competition is no longer taken seriously by the bigger clubs and even Leeds who have just been promoted to the Championships decided to field a second string squad in their 2-1 defeat to Leicester. This is reflected in the poor attendances with few crowds making it past 10,000. Most disappointing was Blackburn v Norwich which only attracted 9,235.

Perhaps the competition needs a real incentive put behind it like a Champions League place for the winner.

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Big Night Of League Cup Football Ahead

Filed under League Cup by on August 24, 2010 at 8:52 am {no comments}
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The Premier League teams not competing in Europe enter the League Cup (Carling Cup) tonight, however the biggest tie in terms of anticipated crowd will be at Elland Road to watch two ex premier league sides Leeds & Leicester. Leeds are just coming into form and with a number of new additions due they will fancy their chances of a fun in the Cup as well as a promotion push.

Of the Premier League Clubs the most interesting ties look like Wigan’s trip to Hartlepool, which will either give the Lactics a chance to get back on track or pile the pressure on Manager Martinez who has just had the dreaded vote of confidence.

Blackpool’s trip to the MK Dons will give them the chance to exorcise the memory of their 6-0 drubbing at Arsenal and if they play like they did against Wigan they should pass this test easily enough.

It is not easy to see where a shock result will come tonight but whatever it will be a money spinner for the smaller clubs with Oxford, Shrewsbury and Southend having nice away ties which should attract double figure crowds.

The ties:

Bradford v Preston
Brentford v Hull
Crewe v Ipswich
Hartlepool v Wigan
Leeds United v Leicester
Leyton Orient v West Brom
MK Dons v Blackpool
Millwall v Middlesbrough
Morecambe v Burnley
Peterborough v Cardiff
Portsmouth v Crystal Palace
Scunthorpe v Sheff Wed
Southampton v Bolton
Stoke v Shrewsbury
Sunderland v Colchester
Tranmere v Swansea
Watford v Notts County
West Ham v Oxford Utd
Wolverhampton v Southend
Blackburn v Norwich
Reading v Northampton

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Burton Albion Without Jacques Maghoma In League Cup Tie

Filed under League Cup by on August 11, 2010 at 2:06 pm {no comments}
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The final three Carling (League) Cup matches tonight look likely to go to the Championship sides, all of whom will be hoping for promotion this season. The caveat to this being that they should win if they put out full squads. If the reserves and or youth players turn up it could be a different matter. Hopefully they will treat the League Cup with a bit of respect and play to win rather than focus on their promotion efforts this early in the season.

Cardiff who lost a thrilling  Play Off Final to Blackpool take on Burton Albion who will be without midfielder Jacques Maghoma, as he  is away on international duty with DR Congo for their friendly match with Egypt. It is unusual for the lower league side to be the one weakened by international call ups, and unless Cardiff are not interested in the Carling Cup and put out a reserve squad then they should be far too strong for a weakened Burton side.

Reading travel to Torquay who are expected to struggle a bit in League 2 this season, and it will probably rival Bradford & Port Vales results as shock of the round if Torquay manage to pull off a win.

Sheffield United are not the best of travelers but should be too strong for Hartlepool who will be without defender Neil Austin. Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell however is expecting to make some changes and if he puts out a weakened team this could be the surprise of the night

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Nottingham Forest Crash Out Of League Cup

Filed under League Cup by on August 11, 2010 at 9:59 am {no comments}
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In the nights biggest shock Nottingham Forest who are expected to challenge for a place in the Premier League this season lost 2-1 to League 2 side Bradford City in the Carling Cup 1st round. Despite taking a first half lead and having a hat full of chances four times League Cup winners Forest never managed to kill off the game and paid the penalty when second half substitute James Hanson scrambled in the winner in extra time.

This was a great result for Bradford City given that Forest put out a strong team and judging by their manager Billy Davies angry reaction to his players efforts they had expected to win. Now they will be hoping for another home draw in round two. Round two will include Premier League clubs who are not competing in Europe so another big night is possible.

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