We’ve reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and that means every team left is just three games away from silverware.
Man City will be the tournament favourites for many, still in the running for a treble like they achieved last season. Pep said that would be almost impossible to win it two years in a row but if you’ve been watching and playing football long enough you will know that nothing is impossible in this game.
It’s a three horse race in the Premier League and the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the weekend keeps things very tight.
They have to get past Newcastle in the Cup next, and that is a team with a point to prove after being knocked out of Europe and not currently in the places to get a spot in Europe next season. This might be Newcastle’s best chance of finding qualification for Europe so it will feel like a cup final to them in some ways, while Man City willl be aiming to control the game and make it through to the semi-finals.
Chelsea are another team with a point to prove after their defeat in the League Cup final to Liverpool. It felt like a big chance for Chelsea to win some silverware but Liverpool just edged it through Van Dijk in extra time. Now Chelsea face Leicester in the FA Cup and need to find a win there to take it to the semi-finals where they will most likely face one of the big clubs left in the tournament.
This will be a game where we will be focused to see if Chelsea can finish teams off instead of allowing them back into the game.
Liverpool vs Man Utd was the big draw from the quarter-finals, and this one will hopefully be a proper battle like we have seen from these two teams for so many years. The North West rivals always want to beat each other, and with Liverpool doing better in the league recently United will be wanting to knock them out of the cup more than ever. Meanwhile Klopp is trying to add another trophy to his farewell tour before he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season.
Will Liverpool have the same energy and focus as they did in the second half vs Man City, because then we expect a game where Man Utd will need to be very focused to get through to the next stage.
The final fixture is Wolves and Coventry, who are fighting for a Championship playoff place this season like they did last year. These are two of the underdogs left in the competition, and whoever makes it through knows they will be just two games from winning the Cup, as we’ve seen happen a few times in recent years including when Wigan won it in 2013. #mmlove