Dmitry LONGICH
MANCHESTER CITY - CHELSEY
The victory in the match postponed on the occasion of the League Cup final will allow the team of Jose Mourinho to regain the six-point distance from the leader. In the championship, “Chelsea” gained a convincing pace, having won four matches in a row, and even dry. But in the English Cup just last Sunday, the “blue” almost spurred “Tottenham Hotspur”, having pinned on the Stamford Bridge the number of guest goals unheard of for these places - three. However, John Terry, once again returning to the field, promises to correct this disgrace with his appearance. “Manchester City” is unlikely to convict the London captain of excessive arrogance - “citizens” are now very bad. Since January 1, Stuart Pearce’s wards have never won the championship, they flew out of the Cup and are now at risk of arranging an extreme ending for the season near the relegation zone. The coach himself was on the verge of dismissal, annoying the leadership first, and then the fans. The match with Chelsea is a great chance to fix everything. Does his team only believe in this?
ASTON VILLA - ARSENAL
Arsene Wenger's team has nowhere else to rush. In two weeks, Arsenal lost in the League Cup final, flew out of the FA Cup and the Champions League. In addition, Thierry Henry dropped out before the end of the season. Now the fate of the gunners - to fight for not too important third place in the championship with “Liverpool” and in a bad mood trying to play for fun. “Aston Villa” is also not puzzled by any significant tournament goals. Martin O'Neill, not distracted by the results, calmly builds an interesting team of bright players. The lack of super-motivation, the offensive philosophy of the teams and the presence of defensive problems promise visitors to Villa Park a dull, decent football without undue nervousness.
IMPORTANT WORDS
“This is really a failure. We are all disappointed at the club, and the fans, of course, are also. The players and I were in the locker room [after losing to Blackburn] and were silent. But we have to straighten up and have to start doing this with me. This, what should you be prepared for in the coaching profession. It is very important that I protect the players from negative influence - all criticism falls upon me. One thing I’m sure is that I’ll come to the club tomorrow and do my best to prepare 36 players for the match against Chelsea ", - Manchester City coach Stuart Pearce is not used to giving up at the first t ore.
BEAUTIFUL NUMBERS
“I say this kind of words 10 times for every 15 words. If you put the microphone in the technical area, you will hear me say it 20 times per game. I pronounce this word for myself and my players when I’m not very happy. I say it’s 50 times in the game, 50 times in training and I don’t want to offend anyone with it. I can be emotional, but I am well-mannered ”, - Jose Mourinho in the language of numbers explains what he had in mind when he called during the cup match with“ Tottenham Hotspur ” "referee Mike Riley" filho da puta "(aka" son of a whore ", aka" son of a bitch "). And convinces the football association not to apply sanctions against him.
ASTON VILLA - ARSENAL
March 14th . "Villa Park", 22.45.
Judge : Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire).
Injuries: Laursen, Sutton, Delaney / Henry, Senderos, van Persie, Eboue, Gleb.
Disqualifications : none / Colo Toure, Adebayor, Ebouet, Clichy.
Aston Villa (Sport Today version): Sorensen - Bardsley, Melberg, G. Cahill, Bouma - Agbonlahor, Petrov, McCann, Barry - Moore, Carew.
Arsenal (Sport Today version): Lehmann - Hoyt, Gilberto Silva, Jura, Gallas - Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Jungberg - Baptista, Aliadiere.
Last five matches : + - + - = / + + = + +
First round match : 1: 1.
Quotes William Hill : the victory of “Aston Villa” - 3.5, the draw - 3.2, the victory of “Arsenal” - 1.9.
Broadcast : NTV-Plus Football, 22.40 (direct).
MANCHESTER CITY - CHELSEY
March 14th . City of Manchester, 23.00.
Judge : Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).
Injuries: Mills / D. Cole.
Disqualifications : none / Obi Mikel.
Manchester City (Sport Today version): Weaver - Richards, Disten, R. Dunne, Ball - Trabelsi, Dabo, Barton, Ireland - Wassell, Corradi.
Chelsea (Sport Today version): Czech - Bularuz, Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, E. Cole - Ballack, Essien, Makelele, Lampard - Robben, Drogba.
Last five matches : = - - - - / - + + + +
First round match : 0: 3.
Quotes William Hill : victory for Manchester City - 6.5, draw - 3.6, victory for Chelsea - 1.44.
Broadcast : NTV-Plus Online, 22.55 (direct).
NOTE : match start time is Moscow time.
TOURNAMENT TABLE
| M | Teams | AND | AT | N | P | Balls | ABOUT |
| one | MANCHESTER UNITED | 29th | 23 | 3 | 3 | 66-19 | 72 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 28 | nineteen | 6 | 3 | 50-19 | 63 |
| 3 | LIVERPOOL | 29th | sixteen | five | eight | 44-20 | 53 |
| four | ARSENAL | 27 | 15 | 7 | five | 50-23 | 52 |
| five | BOLTON | 29th | 14 | five | ten | 34-34 | 47 |
| 6 | Everton | 29th | eleven | ten | eight | 37-26 | 43 |
| 7 | READING | 29th | 13 | four | 12 | 43-38 | 43 |
| eight | PORTSMOUTH | 29th | eleven | eight | ten | 36-31 | 41 |
| 9 | BLACKBURN | 29th | 12 | four | 13 | 35-39 | 40 |
| ten | TOTTENHAM | 28 | eleven | 6 | eleven | 36-40 | 39 |
| eleven | NEWCASTLE | 29th | ten | 7 | 12 | 34-37 | 37 |
| 12 | MIDLESBRO | 29th | 9 | 9 | eleven | 32-34 | 36 |
| 13 | ASTON VILLA | 28 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 29-34 | 33 |
| 14 | FULHAM | 29th | 7 | 12 | ten | 31-44 | 33 |
| 17 | Wigan | 29th | 9 | five | 15 | 30-44 | 32 |
| 15 | SHEFFIELD UNITED | 29th | eight | 7 | 14 | 25-41 | 31 |
| sixteen | MANCHESTER CITY | 27 | eight | 6 | 13 | 20-33 | thirty |
| 18 | CHARLTON | 29th | 6 | 6 | 17 | 26-49 | 24 |
| nineteen | WEST HAM | 28 | five | five | 18 | 18-46 | 20 |
| 20 | Watford | 29th | 3 | eleven | 15 | 18-43 | 20 |
SNIPERS : Drogba (Chelsea) - 18, Cristiano Ronaldo (Man. United) - 16, Van Persie (Arsenal), Yakubu (Middlesbrough) - 12, Doyle (Reading), McCarthy (Blackburn), Henry (Arsenal), Rooney (Man. United), Martins (Newcastle), Lampard (Chelsea) - 10, Kanu (Portsmouth), Kate (Liverpool) - 9.
30th round. 03/17. Blackburn - West Ham. Chelsea - Sheffield United. Manchester United - Bolton. Middlesbrough - Manchester City. Reading - Portsmouth. Tottenham Hotspur - Watford. Wigan - Fulham. 03/18. Aston Villa - Liverpool. Charlton - Newcastle. Everton - Arsenal.