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Post by mangekyoalleluia on Apr 22, 2017 15:15:39 GMT
First FA Cup SF and big match with the two in form teams in the league, Spurs flying high on a string of wins, should be a good'un. 2 - 1 to Spurs.
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 22, 2017 15:26:31 GMT
Not surprisingly, CFC's odds have really drifted after team news was announced. Batshuayi starts up front with Hazard and Costa benched, while Poch goes full throttle with his starting eleven.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Ake, Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro.
Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Terry, Chalobah, Fabregas, Hazard, Costa.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Wanyama, Dembele, Son, Eriksen, Dele, Kane.
Subs: Lopez, Davies, Walker, Wimmer, Sissoko, Nkoudou, Janssen.
(90 mins)
CFC 9/4
Spurs 7/5
Draw 23/10
(To qualify)
CFC 1/1
Spurs 4/5
Preamble by
Scott Murray :
"A dozen days before the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea met in the very first all-London FA Cup final. Showing scant regard for the audible range of yer actual Bow Bells, the big 1967 showdown was dubbed the Cockney Cup Final. Spurs, though not a patch on the team of the Blanchflower-White era, which had manufactured 411 league goals in four seasons (!) between 1960 and 1964, were hot favourites nevertheless, on the back of a 23-match unbeaten run. Chelsea by contrast were out of form, “playing badly enough to win the cup” according to the Guardian’s football correspondent and chief wag Albert Barham, cracking wise.
Charlie Cooke, John Hollins and Bobby Tambling fought the good fight for Chelsea. But Bill Nicholson’s team boasted too much quality: Dave Mackay, Jimmy Greaves, the Alans Gilzean and Mullery. A young Joe Kinnear overlapped relentlessly and won many plaudits; Jimmy Robertson and Frank Saul scored the goals that secured Spurs their third cup in six years.
Fifty years on, give or take a month, and it’s another big Wembley occasion starring these two capital behemoths! The dynamic isn’t exactly the same as it was in 1967 ... well, it’s only the semi-final today, for a start. But there are similarities, in so much as Spurs are the form team again - the hottest team in the country right now, in fact, having won their last eight matches - while Chelsea haven’t been at their best of late, losing at home to Crystal Palace then forgetting to turn up at Old Trafford last weekend. Playing badly enough to win the league-and-cup double? Fans well-versed in old-school comedy will certainly hope so.
Problem for Chelsea is, Spurs now have a whiff of the double in their nostrils themselves. This match doesn’t just guarantee the winner a place in the 2017 FA Cup final; it could also have a bearing on the state of everyone’s noggins during the Premier League title run-in. Chelsea are looking to reach their first final since 2012, with a view to restating their dominance in the Premier League. Tottenham meanwhile are looking to make the final for the first time since 1991, and who knows how the rest of the league season would pan out if they achieve that? Echoes of 1967 will give Spurs encouragement; Chelsea on the other hand will remember the only FA Cup semi between these clubs, the 2012 affair which ended 5-1 in their favour.
With so much to play for, it promises to be a glorious game. But it’ll be one played under the saddest of shadows: the untimely loss of Spurs coach Ugo Ehiogu."
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Post by Carl LaFong on Apr 22, 2017 15:32:28 GMT
Live on the Beeb (in Scotland too.) Which is nice!
Chelsea win on penalties.
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 22, 2017 15:32:53 GMT
Hard game to call with Spurs horrible form at Wembley. Definately gonna finish outside the top 4 next season.
Maybe Conte's done the right thing keeping Costa on the bench, spuds might wind him up and get him a 3 match bad and give Hazard a kicking.
Lawro predicts a Chelsea win on pens and I agree
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 22, 2017 15:36:50 GMT
Lawro predicts a Chelsea win on pens and I agree |
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Post by Carl LaFong on Apr 22, 2017 15:38:22 GMT
Aberdeen overcame their Hampden hoodoo today. Maybe Spurs can do the same with Wembley?
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 22, 2017 15:52:40 GMT
I think Spuds might win this comfortably
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2017 15:54:32 GMT
Hoping for Spurs. We'll see.
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 22, 2017 16:04:30 GMT
Antonio Conte speaks! “I took this decision about our starting XI. I think at this moment, at this part of the season, you play another game, it’s very important for us ... it’s important to have a play in your mind. And then to take the decision, yeah. You risk, in the same way you start with Eden and Diego, or to come on, it’s the same. It’s important to have an idea of the team and your players and to make the decision.” A free-jazz ramble, basically. Obviously Conte isn’t speaking in his first language, so nobody’s knocking him for that. One suspects he didn’t really fancy explaining himself to the BBC, that’s all, and decided to straight-bat the questions with a series of meaningless phrases and non sequiturs. Hey, if Theresa May’s allowed to get away with it...
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 22, 2017 16:20:45 GMT
Pochettino, I suspect picked Dier at RB ahead of Kyle Walker to counter the threat of Hazard. Some time during the game I would expect Walker to make an appearance
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Post by mangekyoalleluia on Apr 22, 2017 16:21:27 GMT
Willian 1 - 0, well that was quick.
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 22, 2017 16:24:19 GMT
Clever play by Pedro and a stunning strike from Bill
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 22, 2017 16:24:37 GMT
Classic Willian free kick on '5. How many times have we seen this? Lloris no chance as the ball swept in majestically like the head of Saint Francis of Assisi with his birds...
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 22, 2017 16:26:53 GMT
How many times do we forget to back Willian. I knew he was gonna score when I saw him up to take it.
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Post by mangekyoalleluia on Apr 22, 2017 16:34:25 GMT
Now 1 - 1, also fairly quick.
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 22, 2017 16:36:56 GMT
Kane's head stooped to conquer on '19 as Erikssen fed a good ball in past a sleeping CFC back line.
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 22, 2017 16:37:51 GMT
Deft touch for a big man by Kane 1-1
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 22, 2017 16:58:49 GMT
Spurs 6/4 CFC 3/1
Spurs in the ascendancy but wait, the ref gives a penalty against Son.
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Post by mangekyoalleluia on Apr 22, 2017 16:59:50 GMT
2 - 1 after a Chelsea pen, 2 for Willian, never in doubt.
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 22, 2017 17:02:18 GMT
Go on my SON, give them an easy penalty !
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