Sports Blog 26/02/2016: Match Preview – Premier League/League Cup Final, Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th February 2016

A jam-packed few days of football continues this weekend, with the League Cup final on Sunday and at least one truly tasty Premier League tie.

The undoubted focus of the weekend is the League Cup final, with both Liverpool and Manchester City equally capable of stuttering or soaring on Sunday (ahead of a near immediate rematch in the league on Wednesday). Whilst a tense 1-0 win over Augsburg on Thursday sent the Reds through to the last 16 of the Europa League (where they will face Manchester United), it was not the kind of performance that will have buoyed hopes ahead of the final. It seems that Liverpool failed to gain much momentum over their rollicking 6-0 victory over Aston Villa a few weeks ago, their 2 week stint in Europe seeing the side return to the kind of limp form that currently sees them languishing in 8th in the league.



City, on the other hand, seemed to (sort of) justify Pellegrini’s decision to field a bunch of nobodies against Chelsea in last weekend’s FA Cup fixture, a stellar display against Dynamo Kiev seeing the Manchester side take a 3-1 lead into the home leg in a fortnight. Goals from Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure saw City thoroughly bounce back from their 3-game losing streak and will have slightly reassured fans that silverware is within reach this season. Our Spreadex traders seem to share that optimism, offering a Manchester City/Liverpool Goal Supremacy spread of 0.2-0.4, with a Total Goals spread of 2.6-2.8.

Turning back the clock a bit and Saturday’s footballing fare is slightly less exciting than what Sunday has to offer. First up sees an inconsistent West Ham take on a struggling Sunderland at 12.45pm on BT Sport 1. Whilst their league-form has been erratic in the last month and a half, with 2 losses, 2 draws and 1 win, West Ham came back with a vengeance against Blackburn in the FA Cup, overcoming a Ben Marshall opener to win 5-1 thanks to braces from Dimitri Payet and Emmanuel Emenike (who go into the weekend at Super Mega PGMs of 19-23 and 30-36 respectively) following an equaliser from Victor Moses. Slaven Bilic will be hoping the Hammers can bring that spark back into the league, as the East London side continue their push for a place in Europe.



Whilst West Ham are eyeing up Man United’s 5th place position Sunderland are just aiming to survive. On 23 points their chances of staying up may be slight, but with Newcastle and Norwich only 1 point ahead of them a miracle from Big Sam isn’t impossible. If anything the Black Cats are in arguably better form than West Ham, their last 2 games a draw at Anfield and a 2-1 victory over Manchester United. Yet their win over United may be more a sign of van Gaal’s failings than Big Sam’s skill, leaving Spreadex to offer a West Ham/Sunderland Goal Supremacy spread of 0.6-0.8 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.6-2.8.

Saturday afternoon then sees what could be a miserable meeting between two relatively uninspiring sides, as West Brom host Crystal Palace at 5.30pm on Sky Sports 1. An ambivalent, largely disappointing, season continued for the Baggies last weekend, losing 3-1 to Championship mid-tablers Reading in the FA Cup. That defeat quickly brought to an end any optimism that may have crept in following West Brom’s win over Everton in the league, a victory that left the Midlands club in 14th place on the same 32 points as their weekend opponents.



For Crystal Palace the season’s early promise as dissipated, especially since 2016 got underway. Whilst their surprising 1-0 win at White Hart Lane last weekend sets up an FA Cup quarter-final against Reading, Palace have been in abject form in the league since Boxing Day. A run of 3 draws and 6 defeats has seen Palace slip from Europe League outsiders to mid-table misers, even with the somewhat promising signing of the ultimate journeyman bad boy Emanuel Abebayor (who got his first goal for the club in Palace’s most recent league defeat to Watford). Given how miserable both teams have looked of late our Spreadex traders have found it just too hard to call, offering a choice West Brom/Crystal Palace Goal Supremacy spread -0.1-0.1 with a Total Goals spread of 2.1-2.3.

Finally early Sunday afternoon sees a game that rivals the League Cup final for anticipation, with an eternally under pressure Louis van Gaal taking on Arsene Wenger’s relatively goalless Arsenal at 2.05pm on Sky Sports 1. Things looked like they were going from bad to worse for the Dutch manager when Midtjylland opened proceedings at Old Trafford on Thursday; however Man United eventually won 5-1, the star being Marcus Rashford, scoring a brace on his debut following a warm-up injury to Anthony Martial. Yet that injury to the Frenchman cast a shadow over the European win, Martial potentially joining Wayne Rooney, David de Gea and Chris Smalling (alongside 11 others) on the absentee list. It’s a sticky situation to find yourself in, especially since United desperately need a win if they are to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League through traditional means alive.



Whilst that win over Midtjylland saw United work out some of their demons, Arsenal’s Tuesday tie against Barcelona went exactly as feared. After holding on for around 70 minutes Lionel Messi scored twice in 12 minutes, leaving the Gunners with the unenviable (nigh impossible) task of winning 3-0 at the Nou Camp in a fortnight. Just as worrying was Arsenal’s failure to score, their 5th goalless game in 8, a troublesome trend for a side pushing for the title. They also haven’t won at Old Trafford in the league since 2006, a run of form that really needs to end if the Gunners are to mount a significant challenge to Leicester and Tottenham. Our Spreadex traders think they can just about manage it, however, offering an Arsenal/Manchester United (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.15-0.35 with a Total Goals spread of 2.25-2.45.

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