It’s been a busy ten days in the football calendar with the World Cup qualifiers, Premier League and an FA Cup replay going on. Now that England’s qualification bid is on hold we can turn our attention to domestic action once more.
Sunderland and Manchester United get us underway with Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off at the Stadium of Light. A number of Sir Alex’s lot were on England duty and a whole host more will have been all over the globe, so it remains to be seen what team he sends out.
The league leaders have won four on the spin against Sunderland and I cannot see Martin O’Neill stopping that becoming five.
Sunday’s highlight is Aston Villa’s game at home to Liverpool. A few weeks ago this would have been a massive task for Villa, but Liverpool’s poor 3-1 defeat at Southampton highlighted the weaknesses at the club.
Paul Lambert has a chance for a league double over the Reds after their best performance of the season. Villa ran out 3-1 winners at Anfield in a superb game that saw Christian Benteke make all the headlines. He continues to almost single-handedly keep Villa outside of the relegation places and another big game here can land a share of the points for the hosts.
Easter Monday throws up a fascinating FA Cup replay between Chelsea and Manchester United. I thought Chelsea were very unlucky not to reach the semi-finals at the first time of asking and the only reason they didn’t was because of a stunning David De Gea save in the final seconds. The players have had a busy week with the internationals and only a day’s rest from Saturday’s league game, so there will be some tired legs around.
I remember playing games without much rest and it’s something the players will be more than capable of dealing with. The Christmas period is always a manic time and this isn’t anything different.
That first tie kept up the run of high scoring games between the clubs. It was the third time that the two clubs have met since August and there have already been a staggering 18 goals. The nine goal thriller in the League Cup took the total to 14 on United’s two visits there in 2012/13, while the past three matches between the clubs at the Bridge have seen 20 goals.
Rafa Benitez’s days are running out at the Bridge and it seems he has a date with destiny in this competition. Chelsea on home turf are a good thing to beat United in 90 minutes at 2.53 on BETDAQ.
Betting on BETDAQ – Alan’s Punts:
Sunderland v Man United – Back Man United at 1.66
Aston Villa v Liverpool – Back the draw at 4.0
Chelsea v Man United (FA Cup) – Back Chelsea at 2.53
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