Just four Premiership sides remain in the velvet bag for Quarter-Final draw as Arsenal capitulate at Old Trafford and Liverpool meet their Waterloo(ville) at the hands of Barnsley. Here’s my notes on the weekend Cup action…
Chelsea 3 Huddersfield 1
Grant rang the changes with the Champions Leauge trip to Olympiakos in mind but had enough options available he could still field a formidable lineup. Terry returned to the starting lineup for the first time since mid-December. He replaced Alex with Ben-Haim coming in for Carvalho. Ferreira and Bridge both started as expected, with Ashley Cole and Belletti rested.
Sidwell got a start in midfield with Ballack rested from the sixteen. Obi came in for Essien who dropped to the bench. Kalou and Sinclair replaced Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips. Pizarro started up front with Anelka benched. No sign of Drogba then – he was nursing a slight knee injury apparently. However, Shevchenko was fit enough to be on the bench and get 15-minutes of action at the end. Lampard got another 81-minutes under his belt after returning from injury. Cudicini got a rare start in goal with Cech rested.
Significantly, Chelsea came through the game without any bookings. Terry now seems certain to start in the Carling Cup Final alongside Carvalho and it will be interesting to see if Grant starts with that pairing for the trip to Olympiakos. Alex now faces a real challenge to get a sniff of first-team action.
Chelsea’s progress to the Quarter-Final will mean that the potential points bonanza with Derby on March 8 is now postponed. It’s not known right now where that fixture will fall once rescheduled so right now, following the Carling Cup Final this weekend, Chelsea have just one fixture in the next three gameweeks and when they do play, they face three consecutive away games at West Ham, Sunderland and Spurs. They then host Arsenal on March 23. Not an easy run then that just might seal the fantasy fate of Anelka for a lot of fantasy managers.
It might also mean that, despite hitting a brace and an assist here, Lampard doesn’t prove to be a massively popular option for fantasy managers over the next month with Gerrard’s fixtures a lot more tempting. Terry’s return could also be met with a shrug if the results of my current poll are anything to go by. Like I said in my weekend scout notes not long ago – Chelsea players are likely to be a decent source of points but the current options open to Grant and the forthcoming fixtures, make it a very difficult task to pinpoint them.
Liverpool 1 Barnsely 2
Lots has been and will continue to be said, about Rafa’s lineup. When you look at it closely however, it’s only the decision to keep Gerrard benched that weakened the lineup significantly. Skrtel was injured so Hyypia came in alongside Carragher in defence. Mascherano was certainly a major loss given Alonso’s current form but the Spaniard, on paper at least, is a worthy replacement.
Lucas, Benayoun and Babel got the other midfield berths. Kuyt and Crouch started up front once more with Torres saved for the Champions League clash with Inter in midweek. Arbeloa was fit enough to make the bench along with Pennant, Kewell and Gerrard.
Unless you’re Liverpool fan, this result is a good thing for fantasy managers. Rafa doesn’t need a backlog of fixtures to encourage him to rotate his side but the lack of FA Cup fixtures at least means that a severe backlog should never arrive.
Tuesday’s game with Inter is crucial to Liverpool’s season and Rafa’s future. Confidence will be at rock bottom so there will be concern about their future in that competition. Rafa has means and ways in the Champions League though and could pull them through despite the slump. Regardless of the Inter scoreline, I’d expect the big guns to be out against Boro on Saturday. That will mean starts for Gerrard and Torres as Liverpool embark on a run of four Premiership home games in five – a run that is now preserved by the FA Cup exit. Despite the lack of form and confidence then, it’s still hard to ignore Liverpool’s key players given the fixture list.
Injuries and Suspensions
Carragher picked up his fifth booking here and will miss the visit of Boro on Saturday.
Man United 4 Arsenal 0
The linups for this game were quite frankly all over the shop. It was almost impossible to predict just how Ferguson and Wenger would approach this one. With both teams facing crucial Champions League first legs in the week, Ferguson told us to expect the unexpected with the team selection and both teams delivered just that.
Ronaldo was out of the sixteen for United and Tevez was rested to the bench. Rooney returned after suspension to lead the line as a lone striker with Park and Nani playing wide either side of him in a fluid 4-5-1. Carrick returned to central midfield for Scholes and Evra came back in at left-back with O’Shea benched. Saha sat alongside him and and looked pretty sharp when he arrived on the scene with 20-minutes remaining.
Wenger was more experimental, citing injuries as a reason for his patched up selection, he still handed Clichy, Flamini, Senderos and Adebayor places on the bench. He then brought the latter three on with 20-minutes left for some reason – indication that rest was the single factor behind them being benched rather than straightforward injuries. Sagna missed the game for family reasons so both Hoyte and Traore got starts at full-back. Eboue and Toure returned from the African Cup of Nations to get starts. Bendtner lined up alongside Eduardo. Gilberto kept a central midfield berth.
There’s not too much we can take from this then other than the fact that the performance of some of United’s second string players here could cause a few issues. Saha’s return to fitness could cause problems by allowing Ferguson more freedom to rest Tevez and Rooney. Indeed with Saha likely to be on the bench for Europe in midweek, we could see him start at former club Newcastle at the weekend.
The performance of Nani could also be a worry, suggesting that Ronaldo could well get rested for the odd Premiership game if Champions League progress continued. Then there’s Fletcher who had his best game in memory in a United shirt – this showing presents Ferguson with food for thought and a greater freedom to rotate his midfield.
United’s fixture’s are going to get clogged. They now face a Quarter-Final on the weekend of March 8 which postpones their clash with Bolton. That means they now face the next three Premiership games away from home. The FA Cup Quarter Final immediately follows the second leg of the Champions League tie with Lyon so Ferguson will be hoping for a draw that will enable him to rest a few. If not, then we could see significant rest and rotation for the Premiership trip to Derby on March 15.
As for Arsenal – their fixture list will benefit from this defeat, however humiliating it may have been. The Milan game and the trip to Birmingham will be crucial to ensure that momentum is maintained. They will however face the latter without Eduardo and Eboue. They’ll hope to have Rosicky back then, which could see Hleb pushed up alongside Adebayor. Walcott is another possibility if fit. I can’t see Wenger pairing Bendtner and Adebayor together from the start at St Andrews.
Injuries and Suspensions
Eboue will serve a 3-match suspension for seeing red here. He’ll now miss games against Birmingham, Villa and Wigan. He’ll be able to return against Boro on March 15. Eduardo meanwhile picked up his fifth booking of the season here and will miss the Birmingham game on Saturday. Adebayor earned his fourth booking and needs to get through the weekend game without picking up a card to avoid a ban.
Sheff United 0 Middlesbrough 0
Southgate was without Huth who was nursing a slight ankle injury so Grounds came in at left-back with Pogatetz shifting alongside Wheater in the centre. Once again he kept Alves on the bench and opted instead for Mido who is yet to reach full fitness himself, but partnered Aliadiere up front here.
The replay of this one will take place on Tuesday February 26 – that’s just a couple of days after the Liverpool game on Saturday and four days before Boro visit Reading. Southgate won’t get the opportunity to rest players then. It will be interesting to see what he does with Alves, Tuncay and Mido with the replay in mind. Tuncay is due for a return to fitness but he could now be saved for the replay, with Mido once again starting up front at Anfield and Alves appearing from the bench in the second-half.
Southgate will need to get Huth back for the replay with Wheater suspended so if there’s any doubts over the fitness of the German international for the Liverpool game then he won’t play, with Pogatetz likely to remain at centre-back.
If Boro win the replay as expected then the Villa game on March 8 will be postponed as Boro play their quarter-final.
Injuries and Suspensions
Wheater picked up a fifth booking of the season here (and was actually lucky it wasn’t a red). He’ll now face a 1-match ban but will be available for trip to Anfield on Saturday due to the 7-day rule. He’ll miss the replay of this game on February 26.
Preston 0 Portsmouth 1
Harry went with strength as expected. He opted for his trusted 4-5-1 with Kanu starting up front as expected. Defoe was cup-tied, Baros on the bench and Nugent still out with a hernia injury. Utaka also started, on the right of midfield with Davis dropping out of the sixteen. Elsewhere Johnson returned having missed last weekend and Distin returned from his hamstring injury. That saw Hreidarsson move to left-back with Pamarot now sidelined for several weeks with a knee injury.
A hard-fought victory for Pompey in which James did his reputation the power of good with numerous quality saves and a spot-kick save. Defoe was cup-tied here and won’t be too threatened by what he saw. Portsmouth lacked a cutting edge up front and for all Kanu’s nice touches, Defoe’s place looks 100% assured in Premiership matches, particularly as he won’t be eligible for the rest of the Cup run.
Portsmouth will play their quarter-final on the weekend of March 8 so their home game with Birmingham is now postponed. This changes the complexion of their fixtures somewhat. The home game with Sunderland this weekend was to be the first of three home games in the next four Premiership games – that’s not now the case.