Sunday best

Yesterday saw some mixed results in the league and results for the preview blog.  Stoke narrowly missed out on the point I expected at Fulham due to a missed Jon Walters penalty.  Arsenal clinched the narrow victory at home against Aston Villa whilst Everton lost at Norwich due to a late goal.  Manchester United did not overly rotate and that ruined any chance of QPR taking anything from their match.  The biggest surprise of the day was the poor display from Reading at home against Wigan, they have been in good recent form and strong at home.  But they offered very little against a Wigan team that normally score on their travels.  Finally West Brom took the points as expected against Sunderland but the visitors did grab a goal that I anticipated.  Now we look ahead to the two premier league fixtures and a Captial One cup final on Sunday.

MANCHESTER CITY v CHELSEA

This is rapidly turning into a poor season for two of the premier leagues wealthiest teams.  Both owned and run by wealth business men and both would of had high demands on their relevant managers before the season started.  Both of these teams main hopes now rely on the fa cup for silverware but that will probably not be enough for either manager to keep their jobs for next season.  Roberto Mancini has already seemed exhausted fending off questions regarding his future this week while Rafa Benitez has known from the beginning that unless he managed to win every competition  he was certain to be replaced come August.  Coming into this match City have won three, drawn two and lost just one of their last six.  Strangely Chelsea's record over the last six matches is identical and a marked improvement on their form from just over a month ago.  At home City have won five of their last six and have kept clean sheets in these five matches as well.  Looking at Chelsea on the road they have won two of their last six these coming at Stoke and away in Europe against Sparta Prague.  Looking into these teams goals records City have seen two or more goals scored in five of their last six at home and have averaged over two goal per home match over the whole season.  The visitors even with their inconsistent form have still managed just under two goals per match away from home.  The historical record regarding this fixture is very even, Manchester City have won the last three whilst Chelsea won the previous two.  Strangely looking at this trend also four of the last five have seen at least two goals scored.  My thoughts regarding this match is that if City are not at the best they may well be forced to accept a draw against a Chelsea team that will probably be sent out to frustrate by Rafa Benitez.

KEY PLAYER: David Silva
POSSBLE GOALSCORER: Sergio Aguero @2.75 ~ Coral

NEWCASTLE v SOUTHAMPTON

Newcastle in recent weeks seem to have discovered some of last seasons form just at the right time of the year.  After struggling though the season with injuries Newcastle found themselves at the wrong end of the table.  But thanks to some useful purchases in the window they now seem to be collecting the points that will push them towards mid table.  With three wins in their last five and the only defeat coming away at in form Tottenham they will definitely be confident going into this match.  They face a Southampton team that have managed to maintain a steady improvement through the season, even after the sacking of Nigel Adkins many thought this could have seen a decline in their form.  But Pochettino has managed to keep the Saints steadily moving along and they have now only lost once in the last five this coming at Old Trafford in a match they could well have come away with a point.  For Southampton draws have been there stock result this season and if they are to push on they will be required to convert some of these into wins.  These two teams goal averages are identical with both scoring just over one goal per match.  The only real difference is Southampton have conceded just over two goals per away match but this is falling after their recent form improvements.  My thoughts for this match are that this match could well see goals from both teams but I do believe Newcastle should come away with something from this match.  My only concern for Newcastle is their recent long trip to the Ukraine and this may have a impact of their performance.

KEY PLAYER: Papiss Cissé
ANYTIME GOALSCORER: Rickie Lambert @3.25 - Stan James

BRADFORD CITY v SWANSEA

Both of these teams come into the league cup final probably not of expecting to have reached here in their wildest dreams.  And for one of these teams it will open a whole new world of opportunities for next season thanks to reaching the Europa league.  One sad point is that I have seen in the media Bradford City have said they may decline Europe as they cannot afford the costings involved to participate in the early rounds.  Matches like these can be strange and will be a test of the Swansea team as they go to Wembley as overwhelming favourites even though Bradford have seen off Watford, Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa so far in this competition.  Swansea have also beaten good teams to reach the final including Liverpool, Middlesboro and Chelsea.  Since reaching the final both of these teams form has been in decline with both teams only managing just one victory in their last five matches.  Looking at Swansea they have failed to score in four of their last five matches whilst Bradford have only managed one clean sheet in their last five matches.  Looking at both of these teams records this season there is one thing they both share in common and that is a severe lack of clean sheets.  Looking at trends in the league cup final both teams have scored in four of the last five matches and there is a good chance this may well happen again tomorrow.  My thoughts are that I believe on the large playing surface of Wembley Swansea and their passing style may well be a bit to much for this Bradford side.  But I do believe this may well be closer than many would anticipate and this should well be a good match for the neutral.

KEY PLAYER: Jonathan de Guzman
ANYTIME GOALSCORER: Miguel Michu @1.91 - William Hill

Thanks for reading and good luck !!!