Sportingbet Australia’s 2010 FA Cup Semi-Finals Preview – Chelsea v Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth
Aston Villa V Chelsea- Wembley, Saturday 10 April 2010
The main priority for Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup Semi-Final showdown with Chelsea will be trying to ensure that his side do not dwell upon last month’s 7-1 humiliation at Stamford Bridge. In fairness to Villa, they did bounce back last weekend by keeping a clean sheet in a hard-fought victory at Bolton and having beaten Chelsea at Villa Park back in October, may fancy their chances of erasing the memories of that Stamford Bridge nightmare and securing their first FA Cup Final appearance since 2000. England international midfielder James Milner is expected to be available for Saturday after being an unused substitute against Bolton and O’Neill has also seen his attacking options boosted by Emile Heskey’s return to full fitness.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have enjoyed a welcome break this week following their potentially decisive Premiership victory over title rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. Boss Carlo Ancelotti is still without a host of long-term absentees, including Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho and Branislav Ivanovic, but the Italian has no fresh injury concerns to contend with and indeed has the pleasant dilemma of deciding whether to recall star trio Salomon Kalou, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba to his starting line-up.
The men from West London will be installed as red-hot favourites to continue their quest for a third FA Cup triumph in the last four years and although Villa are unlikely to implode as they did a fortnight ago, it’s hard to make a case for them to win here. With no Champions League involvement to distract them, the Blues will be rested and focused and if they perform as they did at Old Trafford last weekend, they should win with something to spare.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth -Wembley, Sunday 11 April 2010
Harry Redknapp has inevitably dominated the build-up to Sunday’s FA Cup Semi-Final between his present club Tottenham Hotspur and his former employers Portsmouth. It was of course Redknapp who was in charge of Pompey when they lifted the FA Cup in 2008, but the south coast side have fallen on hard times since then and could take the field at Wembley with their relegation from the Premiership having been confirmed by results elsewhere. Current boss Avram Grant remains publicly confident that his side can upset the odds and book another visit to Wembley next month, but his cause has not been helped by the unavailability of both on-loan Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara, who will not be allowed to play against his parent club and defender Anthony Vanden Borre, who is suspended. In other team news, England stopper David James may reclaim the number one jersey after recovering from a calf problem and there could also be places in the squad for Tommy Smith, Marc Wilson, Hassan Yebda and Prince Boateng.
Pompey accounted for Coventry, Southampton, Sunderland and Birmingham to reach the last four but were beaten by Spurs only a fortnight ago and also lost to the North Londoners earlier in the season.
Spurs slipped to their first defeat in ten outings last week, a result that saw them relinquish their hold on fourth place in the Premiership and Redknapp will be tempted to tinker with his line-up for the Wembley showdown. Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch are both pressing for starts after coming off the bench against Sunderland last time out and Michael Dawson should also return if he can overcome his Achilles problem. Tottenham have taken a circuitous route to the semi-finals, requiring replays to see off Leeds, Bolton and Fulham and are seeking to lift the trophy for the first time since 1991.
Most neutrals would love to see crisis-club Pompey make it through to the final having endured a torrid season on and off the field, but Spurs look too strong in key areas and should edge a tight one.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Portsmouth
2010 FA Cup Semi-Finals Betting Odds
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