We will start off with the FA Cup Final. Manchester United look to complete a fourth domestic double and to hoist the FA Cup for a record extending 12th time. For Chelsea it is a chance to be the first team since Liverpool in 2001 to do the domestic cup double. In addition the FA Cup represents the only trophy that Jose Mourinho has not won during his time at Porto and Chelsea.
This is only the third time that the top two teams have competed in the final. Ninety-four years ago Aston Villa beat Sunderland and in 1986 Liverpool beat Everton. It’s interesting that with the continual talk of the top teams not taking the FA Cup seriously that for the 12th straight season the Cup will be won by one of the big four. You have to go back to 1991 to find the last time that Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal did not make it to the deciding game. The last team outside of London, Merseyside or Manchester to actually win the trophy was Coventry in 1987 when they beat Spurs 3-2 after extra time.
Mourinho and SAF have locked horns nine times and Jose has the superior record with four wins, one loss and three draws. However, you can make a good case that the one loss was the turning point in United’s battle with Chelsea. It was back in November 2005 when a Darren Fletcher goal won the game for United. From that point on United has had a better Premiership record than Chelsea.
It could be a very special day for the evergreen Ryan Giggs. He could become the first player to win five FA Cup winners' medals in 116 years - that is to say it was last done 116 years ago not that Giggs has been playing for 116 years! He could also match Phil Neal’s record of winning seventeen major honours.
After last weekend’s slip-up by Schalke, Stuttgart is in the driving seat. A win against Energie Cottbus will assure them of their third Bundesliga title. A draw would leave the door ajar for Schalke but it would require a win by at least four goals for the Ruhr club to overtake the present leaders. They play Arminia Bielefeld who are one of the Bundesliga's form teams at the moment. Schalke’s return of 15 points out a possible 30 has not been good enough. Stuttgart is on a 7 game winning streak and their last loss was to Schalke 1-0 on March 17.
Stuttgart Coach Armin Veh replaced Trapattoni last February but it was an inau####ious start with only nine points in the final ten games of last season. Veh signed a bunch of foreign players over the summer such as Ricardo Osario and Pavel Pardo (both Mexicans), Brazilian Antonio Da Silva, Swede Alex Farnerud and Swiss striker Marco Streller. Even then the season started poorly with two losses and a draw in their first three home games. Since then Stuttgart has gone unbeaten at home with 11 wins and 2 draws. Next week Stuttgart plays Nurnberg in the German Cup Final.
Real Madrid is sitting top of La Liga for the first time since October 2005 and plays away to Recreativo de Huelva. Recreativo has performed remarkably well this season with Florent Sinama-Pongolle scoring 11 goals and securing a permanent move from Liverpool to the southern Spanish club.
Recreativo has only one loss at home since Christmas (4-0 to Barcelona) while Real Madrid have 7 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss in their last 10 matches. During that time Ruud Van Nistelrooy has scored at a goal-a-game pace and is currently the leagues leading scorer with 21 goals.
Four words Barcelona don’t want to hear as their season threatens to implode – Atletico Madrid, Fernando Torres. Atletico have won three and drawn two of the last five games against Barca and Torres has scored six goals. This game is a test of character for Barcelona. If they lose this one and Real Madrid win there would be a sense of the inevitable about Madrid first La Liga title since 2003. Barcelona have only won twice in their last 11 away games and have only shut out the opposition four times on the road this season.
Atletico have lost three times at home but are unbeaten since December 10. There have not been a lot of goals to enjoy at the Vicente Calderon with Atletico scoring 18 and conceding 11. In 13 of the 17 home matches Atletico have scored one goal or less while Espanyol are the only visiting team to score more than one.
Fresh from retaining the UEFA Cup Sevilla travels to La Coruna where the home defense has proven to be a tough nut to crack. Deportivo La Coruna have the best defensive home record in La Liga with only 9 goals conceded in 17 games and 11 shut outs. However, it comes at cost of goals scored with only 16 goals potted at the Riazor.
Sevilla are unbeaten in their last three La Liga trips to La Coruna with two draws and one win but they not won away from home since Jan 28 against Levante. That means six games without an away win.
In MLS there is a rematch of the 2006 Championship game. Houston Dynamo won that one in a penalty shoot-out but they have made a stuttering start to the new season. Houston have won two, drawn one and lost three so far. The latest defeat came against Toronto FC on Wednesday night at a cold, wet – and we found out today – “collapsing” BMO Field.
Houston enjoyed the majority of the possession on Wednesday but they had a look of a team that did not know what to do once they got within 30 yards of the Toronto goal. On the other hand New England Revolution have flown out of the gate with four wins, two draws and a single loss. Taylor Twellman is red hot with six goals and Andy Dorman (a player who is a joy to watch at times) has three. There have only been two goals scored (one for and the other against) in three games at Robertson Stadium this season so far but I think we will see some more on Saturday.
Chelsea’s win over Norwich in the FA Cup 5th Round was of the routine variety. A deflected shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips just before half time set the Pensioners on their way. Didier Drogba put the game beyond Norwich with a goal early in the second half and then Essien and Shevchenko scored in injury time to give to scoreline a look that Norwich probably didn't deserve.
Now Chelsea faces a Premiership side for the first time this season although they do have home advantage once more. Tottenham provides the opposition and it is difficult to guess how Spurs reacted to the quarter final draw. On the positive side they did beat Chelsea 2-1 at White Hart Lane in November after falling behind to an early Claude Makelele goal. Conversely it was only the second time that Spurs had beaten Chelsea in their last 38 meetings.
Spurs looked to have finally got their season on track and although they continue to have trouble keeping the opposition off the score sheet the goals are flying in at the other end. Four straight wins in all competitions before the UEFA Cup match against Braga has seen Spurs score 14 goals.
The first win of this current run was 4-0 over Fulham in the FA Cup 5th round at Craven Cottage. This brought Tottenham’s goal tally in FA Cup to 11. Cardiff were beaten 4-0 in a replay (after 0-0), and other Championship side Southend went down 3-1.
Only Manchester United and Arsenal have won the FA Cup more often than Tottenham Hotspur but neither can match Spurs’ record of losing only once in the FA Cup final. Eight times Spurs have won the FA Cup (1901, 1921, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1982 and 1991) and the first win in 1901 was while playing in the Southern League. Spurs remains the only non-league to lift the trophy since the advent of the Football League in 1888.
The only loss came in 1987 to Coventry and even then a Spurs player scored the deciding goal. Clive Allen and Dave Bennett swapped goals in the first ten minutes of the Wembley final but a Brian Kilcline own-goal just on half time sent Spurs in with a 2-1 lead. A flying header from Coventry striker Keith Houchen took the game into extra time and then Spurs centre back Gary Mabbutt’s knee gave Coventry the Cup as he deflected a cross passed his own goal keeper.
Chelsea and Tottenham met for the first time in the FA Cup nearly a century ago. In 1910 Spurs beat Chelsea 1-0 in the second round and since then Spurs have retained a slight edge with four wins, three losses and one draw. Chelsea knocked Spurs out of the FA Cup in both 1964 and 1965 but Spurs gained revenge two years later when faced each other in the Final for the only time. It was the first time that two London teams had made it to the final.
The record shows that Spurs were the much better side on the day and goals from Jimmy Robertson and Frank Saul gave them a comfortable lead even though Bobby Tambling pulled one back with five minutes to go.
The line ups read like a Legends game. Tottenham Hotspur – Jennings; Kinnear, England, MacKay, Knowles; Robertson, Mullery, Venables, Saul; Greaves and Gilzean. Chelsea – Bonetti; Harris (A), Hinton, Harris (R), McCreadie; Hollins, Cooke, Baldwin, Boyle; Tambling and Hateley.
The full quarter final draw can be found here and this is a link to the latest news from the official FA Cup website.
Past Featured Games Extra Preliminary Round Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A. 5-2 Billingham Synthonia. Preliminary Round Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A 5-4 Thackley F.C First Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 3-0 Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A. Second Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 4-2 Goole AFC Third Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 2-0 Warrington Town Fourth Qualifying Round Fleetwood Town 2-0 Wisbech Town First Round Salisbury City 3-0 Fleetwood Town Second Round Salisbury City 1-1 Nottingham Forest Second Round Replay Nottingham Forest 2-0 Salisbury City Third Round Nottingham Forest 2-0 Charlton Fourth Round Chelsea 3-0 Nottingham Forest Fifth Round Chelsea 4-0 Norwich City
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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