Carling Cup 09/10: Quarter final fixtures released

The fixtures for the fifth round of matches in the Carling Cup tournament 2009-10 has been announced.

The fixtures will take place in the week beginning November 30.

The eight teams that have proceeded to the fifth round or the quarter-final round are:

Manchester United

Arsenal

Chelsea

Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur

Blackburn Rovers

Portsmouth, and

Aston Villa

Any one of these eight teams, which are playing in the Premier League, will be picking up the silverware this year.

All the four matches will be played on Tuesday, the 1st of December 2009.

Blackburn Rovers will host Chelsea

Manchester United invite Tottenham Hotspur to Old Trafford

Arsenal will travel to Manchester City, and

Portsmouth will entertain Aston Villa.

From today, precisely one month is there for the teams to prepare for the quarter-finals, from which four will have their hopes vanished at the end, while the balance four teams will go to the next round - the semi-finals.

While all the fixtures are really interesting and would present an interesting battle, the mouth-watering game would be between the Gunners and the high-spending Manchester City, and the game will be on City's home ground.

Champions, Manchester United will invite Tottenham Hotspur in what is going to be a repeat of last year's Finals where Manchester United lifted the trophy after prevailing over Tottenham Hotspur - 4-1 in a penalty shoot out.

Manchester United breeze into quarterly finals with 2-0 win over Barnsley

Carling cup : Barnsley Vs Manchester United - 27/10

After being humiliated with a 0-2 loss to arch rivals Liverpool on Sunday, Premier League Champions and runner-up of last year's Champions League, Manchester United travel to Oakwell for a fourth round fixture with Barnsley Football club.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who, of late, is under fire from the referees for his controversial remarks against them both in the premier league clash against Liverpool a couple of days ago as well as against Sunderland in the previous week, might fancy his second team to get some exposure to big-league football, while, at the same time ensuring that the team move to the next round without much fuss or problems.

The stunning defeat to Burnley, one of the newly promoted teams to the Premier League this season, should be a reminder for SAF and others in the team not to take the opponent so easily and make sure that the game is won convincingly.

Barnsley are not any pushovers and, with the home support behind them, they are expected to give some headache to the devils.

According to news from the club, Gabriel Obertan, one of the new signings for the team this season, might make his debut in English football for the first time this season. A box-to-box player with better credentials, the adaptability of this player to English conditions and the style of playing will be a good boost for the current champions who were pushed to the second spot after 10 games.

It is Manchester United all the way and my prediction would be a convincing victory for the Devils enough to breeze through to the quarter finals.

Carling Cup: Arsenal Vs. Liverpool - Preview

Two of the big four teams in Premier League - Arsenal and Liverpool - will face each other in the fourth round of Carling Cup 2009/10 at the Emirates Stadium.

It is certain that one of these two teams will have their dream of winning the Carling Cup this year vanished at the end of this game, and may have to be postponed by yet another year at the minimum.

Which will be that unfortunate team to miss out from the race?

Will it be Arsenal  ?

OR

Will it be Liverpool ?

Liverpool, which had a poor run of four consecutive losses till last Saturday, that is up to 24th October, saw a new found life after convincingly getting past their arch-rivals, Manchester United, in a Premier League encounter at Anfield on Sunday.

Arsenal, which had a fantastic beginning for the season with raining goals and good display, seems to be losing steam or momentum, as can be evidenced from two consecutive draws, which should otherwise have been victories.  A stoppage time goal in the Champions League Fixture against Az Alkmaar (1-1) and a draw against West Ham United (2-2) after being in the lead for most of the time in both the matches - might dampen the spirits.  However, the solace is that both the fixtures were away from home, and this crucial fixture is at home, in the Emirates Stadium.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal were desperate to add some silverware to their collections, having not won any cups in the past two years or more.

My prediction is for a home victory to the Gunners who are in fine form, while Liverpool will not be easy pushovers as they try to re-establish their supremacy, having got the much-needed boost from victory over the rivals.

Carling cup - 4th round fixtures - 27-28, Oct 2009

Eight matches, featuring 13 teams playing in the premier league, will be played in the fourth round fixtures of Carling Cup 2009/10 in two days -27th October 2009 and 28th October 2009.

The schedule is as follows :

On 27th October 2009

• Barnsley Vs. Manchester United
• Sunderland Vs. Aston Villa
• Portsmouth Vs. Stoke City
• Blackburn Rovers Vs. Peterborough
• Tottenham Hotspur Vs Everton

On 28th October 2009

• Arsenal Vs. Liverpool
• Chelsea Vs. Bolton Wanderers
• Manchester City Vs. Scunthorpe.

A cursory look at the fixtures reveals some really fascinating and tough encounters.  It is absolutely certain that atleast one of the four big teams in the Premier League will not be able to move to the next round.

While Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Manchester United are most likely to move to the fifth round, barring any upsets, the other matches are really interesting, with the match between Arsenal and Liverpool being the most important that would see the elimination of one big team from the Cup.

Preview of each of the teams will follow shortly.