Premier League & FA Cup Predictions - 13th-17th April 2013

Another weekend of Premier League and FA Cup fixtures just around the corner means another round of ‘Porter’s Predictions’ for you guys to enjoy. This round will also include the midweek fixtures too. Aren’t you lucky people!! Anyways, this load of Premier League fixtures include Aston Villa vs Fulham, Newcastle vs Sunderland, Arsenal vs Everton and Fulham vs Chelsea.

The FA Cup is at the semi-final stage which means games are now being played at Wembley. This weekend, Wembley will play host to Millwall vs Wigan and Chelsea vs Manchester City. Here are my predictions.

Premier League

Saturday

Arsenal 3-0 Norwich
Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham
Everton 2-1 QPR
Reading 1-3 Liverpool
Southampton 2-1 West Ham

Sunday

Newcastle 3-1 Sunderland
Stoke 1-2 Man Utd

Tuesday

Arsenal 2-1 Everton

Wednesday

Man City 3-0 Wigan
West Ham 2-3 Man Utd
Fulham 2-2 Chelsea

FA Cup

Saturday

Millwall 1-2 Wigan

Sunday

Chelsea 1-2 Man City

Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Other blogs - http://www.letstalksport.org.uk/ & http://nflmad.wordpress.com/

Email - conorporter@live.co.uk

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United - FA Cup quarter-final replay

Stefan Wermu - Reuters 

Chelsea’s Demba Ba produced the only goal in the FA Cup quarter-final replay win against Manchester United, setting them up with a semi-final tie at Wembley against Manchester City.

The game lacked life during the first 20 minutes of the game, as both sides were unable to find any rhythm in their game and were producing sloppy passing.

This may have been down to the fact a lot of players may have been tired from playing internationals during the last week and league fixtures during the weekend.

After Ashley Cole was subbed off the field and replaced by Ryan Bertrand due to a hamstring problem, the game started to earn a bit of life.

Javier Hernandez tried to take a shot inside Chelsea’s penalty area, but he took one turn too many and lost the ball to Ramires, who cleared.

Chelsea had a chance of their own not long later when Eden Hazard went on a good run, wrong footing Chris Smalling along the way, and then rolling the ball to Demba Ba.

Ba then had a shot from the right side of the penalty area but this shot was saved by David De Gea which caused the ball to go out for a throw in.

Moments later, Chelsea was given a free kick thanks to a Nani handball. David Luiz took the free kick, which went over the cross bar convincingly.

After this, Nani tried to redeem himself with a long shot in Chelsea’s half, but the ball went wide of Petr Cech’s right hand post.

Hazard then formed a nice one-two partnership with Oscar inside Manchester United’s penalty area, but his shot went harmlessly over De Gea’s crossbar.

Hernandez was the next Manchester United player to have a shot from range on Cech’s goal. His shot was on target, and was only saved by the feet of Cech as the ball swerved in the air.

Just before half time, John Obi Mikel had a shot on the edge of the area for Chelsea but the ball hit Smalling and went for a corner.

Nothing came from this corner for Chelsea, so the half time score was 0-0.

Manchester United started off with the first chance of the second half as Luiz fouled Phil Jones on the edge of the area, giving them a free kick.

Nani took the free kick but his shot hit the wall and his following cross was plucked out of the air by Cech.

Two minutes later, Chelsea broke the deadlock.

Ba outstretched his leg to make contact with a Juan Mata ball and he put enough power on the ball to guide it past De Gea to the left side of the net, giving Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

Manchester United replied not too long after this with an opportunity to get on the score sheet.

A cross by Danny Welbeck gave Hernandez a close range header and a chance to score, but his header pulled out a fantastic save by Cech.

Mata responded for Chelsea after picking up a nice through ball by Hazard in the left side of Manchester United’s area, but his shot hit the side netting.

Michael Carrick then had a chance for Manchester United, but he should have passed the ball instead of taking the shot as he had better options around him. His shot from the edge of the area went wide.

Carrick made another error moments later as his lose pass was picked up by Hazard. Hazard then dribbled the ball to the penalty area but his shot went wide of the right hand post.

After this chance, Chelsea looked more likely to score as Oscar’s shot five minutes before the 90 minute mark went wide of the left hand post.

Robin Van Persie had the best chance in the last few minutes for Manchester United as he was able to volley a Patrice Evra cross, but his volley went over the bar.

This was an unusual site from Van Persie, who has been scoring goals for fun this season.

No more real opportunities occurred for either side, which meant the score finished Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United.

This win for Chelsea sets them up with a trip to Wembley to play Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on the 14^th April.

Line-ups

Chelsea

01 Cech

02 Ivanovic

03 Cole (Bertrand - 21’ (Booked))

04 David Luiz

28 Azpilicueta (Booked)

07 Ramires

10 Mata (Booked)

11 Oscar (Booked) (Moses 90’)

12 Mikel

17 Hazard

29 Ba (Torres 90’)

Substitutes

22 Turnbull

26 Terry

34 Bertrand

08 Lampard

13 Moses

30 Benayoun

09 Torres

Manchester United

01 De Gea

03 Evra

04 Jones

05 Ferdinand

12 Smalling

07 Valencia

16 Carrick

17 Nani (Giggs 65’)

23 Cleverley (Booked) (Van Persie 61’)

14 Hernandez

19 Welbeck (Young 80’)

Substitutes

13 Lindegaard

36 Vermijl

11 Giggs

18 Young

25 Powell

26 Kagawa

20 Van Persie

Man of the Match: Demba Ba

Ref: Dowd

Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Email - conorporter@live.co.uk

Other blogs - http://www.letstalksport.org.uk/ & http://nflmad.wordpress.com/

Premier League & FA Cup Predictions - 9th &10th March 2013

This weekend’s football action is a mixture of Premier League and FA Cup with some exciting ties lined up that could provide some upsets.

Premier League fixtures include West Brom vs Swansea and Reading facing off against fellow strugglers Aston Villa on Saturday and Liverpool vs Tottenham on Sunday.

In the FA Cup, Everton play against Wigan and Man City host Barnsley on Saturday. Also, Millwall play against Blackburn and Man Utd host fellow Premier League side Chelsea on Sunday.

Here are my predictions for this weekend’s fixtures (Kick-offs at 3pm unless stated).

Premier League

Saturday

Norwich 1-2 Southampton
QPR 2-1 Sunderland
Reading 1-1 Aston Villa
West Brom 1-1 Swansea

Sunday

Newcastle 2-0 Stoke City
Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham (K.O. 4pm)

FA Cup

Saturday

Everton 3-1 Wigan (K.O. 12:45pm)
Man City 4-0 Barnsley (K.O. 5:30pm)

Sunday

Millwall 1-0 Blackburn (K.O. 2pm)
Man Utd 3-2 Chelsea (K.O. 4:30pm)

FA Cup and Premier League Predictions - 16th, 17th & 18th February 2013

Special edition of predictions for you guys and gals this weekend as it includes FA Cup 5^th round, FA Cup 4^th round replays and Premier League predictions. Aren’t you all very lucky! Here are my predictions for this weekend (All kick-offs at 3pm unless stated).

FA Cup 5^th round

Saturday

Luton 1-2 Millwall (K.O. 12:45pm)
Arsenal 3-1 Blackburn
MK Dons 2-1 Barnsley
Oldham 2-3 Everton (K.O. 6pm)

Sunday

Man City 2-1 Leeds Utd (K.O. 2pm)
Huddersfield 2-1 Wigan (K.O. 3:55pm (Don’t ask me why!))

Monday

Man Utd 4-2 Reading (K.O. 8pm)

FA Cup 4^th round replay

The winners of Chelsea vs Brentford will travel to the Riverside to play against Middlesbrough on the Wednesday 27^th February

Sunday

Chelsea 4-2 Brentford

Premier League

Sunday

Liverpool 2-1 Swansea 

twitter - @ConorJPorter

FA Cup Round 4 Predictions - 25/26/27th January 2013

The FA Cup is back this weekend with some exciting ties including Millwall vs Aston Villa, Stoke vs Man City, Man Utd vs Fulham, Brighton vs Arsenal, Leeds vs Tottenham and Oldham vs Liverpool. Here are my predictions. (All kick-offs are at 3pm unless stated)

Friday

Millwall 2-1 Aston Villa (K.O. 7:45pm)

Saturday

Stoke 1-3 Man City (K.O. 12:45pm)
Bolton 1-4 Everton
Brighton 1-2 Arsenal
Derby 1-1 Blackburn
Huddersfield 0-3 Leicester
Hull 1-1 Barnsley
Macclesfield 2-1 Wigan
Middlesbrough 3-0 Aldershot
Norwich 1-1 Luton
QPR 3-1 MK Dons
Reading 3-2 Sheff Utd
Man Utd 3-1 Fulham (K.O. 5:30pm)

Sunday

Brentford 0-4 Chelsea (K.O. 12pm)
Leeds 1-2 Tottenham (K.O. 2pm)
Oldham 0-2 Liverpool (K.O. 4pm)

twitter - @ConorJPorter

Southampton 1-5 Chelsea - Match Report

Demba Ba scores on his Chelsea debut (AFP)

New £7m signing Demba Ba scores twice to help Chelsea advance to the next round of the FA Cup with a 5-1 thrashing of Southampton at St Mary's.

The FA Cup holders conceded after 22 minutes thanks to a great ball by Southampton's Jason Puncheon to Jay Rodriguez just inside the area, who struck the ball into the bottom right corner of the Chelsea goal.

Ba then equalised 13 minutes later by knocking Juan Mata's goal bound ball into the back of the net, his first ever Chelsea goal.

Just before half time, Victor Moses put Chelsea ahead by rifling home a one-two pass from Ashley Cole just inside the penalty area, giving his team a 2-1 lead at the break.

In the second half, it was all one way traffic, as Chelsea extended their lead to two goals with an accurate header from Branislav Ivanovic on the edge of the six yard box from a Mata cross, his second assist of the game.

Ba added a second goal on his Chelsea debut with a tap in from a well-placed pass into the penalty area by Eden Hazard from the right hand side of the pitch.

Steven Davis handled the ball in the penalty area, which allowed Frank Lampard to wrap up the scoring from the penalty spot with a powerful strike towards the bottom left corner of the goal, making the final score 5-1 to Chelsea.

This goal meant Lampard had scored 193 goals for Chelsea, making him their joint second highest top goal scorer of all time alongside Kerry Dixon, who also played for Southampton.

Next up for Southampton is a trip to fellow struggling side Aston Villa next weekend. A good result here from either is necessary, as it could be the boost they need to avoid relegation.

For Chelsea, their next game is a League Cup Semi-Final first leg tie against Swansea at Stamford Bridge on 9th January. Last time the sides met, the score finished 1-1, but a win will increase Chelsea's chances of achieving silverware this season.

Chelsea now enters the fourth round draw, which will take place this Sunday at 3:30pm. Ties for the fourth round will be played on the weekend commencing 26th January.

Man of the Match - Juan Mata

Match Facts

Southampton

Scorers - Rodriguez 22'

Substitutes used - De Ridder 54' (Schneiderlin), Hooiveld 63' (Fonte), Lee 78' (Puncheon)

Substitutes not used - K Davis, Reeves, Lambert, Mayuka

Yellow Cards - De Ridder 78', Ward-Prowse 88'

Red Cards - None

Chelsea

Scorers - Ba 35', Moses 45+2', Ivanovic 52', Ba 61', Lampard 83' (pen)

Substitutes used -  Lampard 65' (Ivanovic), Marin 73' (Moses), Oscar 79' (Mata)

Substitutes not used - Hilario, Ferreira, Betrand, Torres

Yellow Cards - None

Red Cards - None

twitter - @ConorJPorter

FA Cup Quarter Final - Chelsea vs Leicester City Match Report

Chelsea 5-2 Leicester City

Meireles and Torres celebrating

Fernando Torres scored two goals as Chelsea beat Leicester City 5-2 at Stamford Bridge to advance to the FA cup semi-finals.

The first real goal scoring opportunity of the match came from Leicester City striker, Jermaine Beckford, who had a shot from the edge of the penalty area that curled wide of the right hand post.

The first goal came 11 minutes into the match from Cahill, after he headed Juan Mata’s corner into the back of the net from close range.

For his celebration, Cahill revealed a ‘Pray for Muamba’ shirt, showing support towards Bolton Wanderers midfielder, Fabrice Muamba, who tragically collapsed when his side played against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA cup yesterday.

Cahill showing his support for Muamba

Five minutes later, Salomon Kalou scored Chelsea’s second goal of the day from a Fernando Torres pass. Kalou slotted the ball into the bottom left corner from inside the box.

Leicester City’s Paul Gallagher had a shot from the edge of the box two minutes later, which went wide of the right hand post.

Leicester City continued to press towards opening their scoring tally, with opportunities by Neil Danns and Beckford coming close throughout the rest of the first half.

Chelsea weren’t without their chances either, as Torres and Daniel Sturridge had occasions where they could have increased Chelsea’s lead, only to be stopped by the hard working Leicester City defence.

After the start of the second half, Mata was substituted for Florent Malouda. He nearly made an instant impact on the game as he had a shot towards the bottom right corner of the goal, causing Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to make a save.

Chances came and went from both sides until finally Torres broke the dead lock in the second half and ended his goal drought by passing a ground cross by Raul Meireles into the bottom left corner of the net.

That goal was Torres’s first goal since October 2011, ending his goal drought that lasted 24 matches in all competitions.

However, on the 78 minute, Leicester City pulled one back through Beckford. After a poor through ball by Chelsea’s Michael Essien, Leicester City went on the counter attack which resulted in a Beckford goal from the rebound of Danns shot from outside the box that had hit the post.

Seven minutes after the Leicester City goal, Chelsea restored their three goal cushion thanks to a second goal by Torres.

Assisted by a Meireles corner, Torres managed to head the ball from the far left edge of the six yard box despite being marked by two players, into the far right corner of the goal.

Three minutes later, Leicester City midfielder Ben Marshall scored his first goal for Leicester City, one which could be a contender for goal of the season.

From around 30 yards out, Marshall smashed the ball into the top right corner of the net and out of reach of Petr Cech.

Meireles wrapped up the scoring with a goal in the 90 minute thanks to a Torres pass making the final score 5-2 to Chelsea.

Torres not being selfish and going for his hat-trick, decided to pass the ball across the box to Meireles who passed the ball into the bottom left corner of Schmeichel’s goal.

For their remaining games in the npower championship, Leicester City will focus on fighting for a place in the playoffs but it will be tough as they are eight points adrift of 6^th place with only ten games remaining.

With this win, Chelsea advance to the FA cup semi-finals at Wembley, to play against either Tottenham Hotspur or Bolton Wanderers on the 14/15 April.


twitter - @ConorJPorter