Tag Archives: FA Cup
How are the football leagues affected by Covid-19?
Champions League final has been postponed
European Football Federation indefinitely postpone Champions League and Europa League finals this season. This is the second time UEFA has rescheduled the match in the past week, after deciding to leave Euro to 2021.
The new schedule arrangement depends mainly on the control of Covid-19 in Europe, where a pandemic is intensifying with an increasing number of infected and dying people.
According to the original plan, the Champions League final took place on May 30 in Istanbul, Turkey, and the Europa League final on May 27 in Gdansk, Poland.
The Champions League has just completed four pairs of rounds of the eighth round, with the victories going to Atletico, PSG, Leipzig and Atalanta. Four other pairs are waiting for the return leg: Barca – Napoli, Bayern – Chelsea, Juventus – Lyon and Man City – Real.
Many European national championships are also postponed indefinitely, like La Liga. Ligue 1 may only return in mid-June, the Premier League aims at the beginning of May, while the Bundesliga and Serie A are unlikely to rematch in early April as expected.
FA Cup and League Cup are proposed to be cancelled next season
Foreign English clubs can sacrifice two domestic Cup tournaments, if the schedule is too thick due to Covid-19.
Premier League leaders will meet on March 26 to discuss when the tournament will return. Other issues are also discussed. One of the proposals is for clubs to abandon the FA Cup and League Cup if the schedule for the 2020-2021 season is too thick, according to Sun.
Due to the influence of Covid-19, it is not possible to determine the date of the Premier League and the competitions returning to compete. But one thing is certain, that the clubs will face a much thicker schedule to ensure the season can end. It may even encroach on to the following season.
Therefore, the Premier League teams are considering leaving two domestic Cup arenas – FA Cup and League Cup. They want to focus on the Premier League. To do this, clubs must send the Football Association of England (FA) and the Association of Professional Football League (EFL) a compensation.
But compensation may not solve the problem. The FA Cup and League Cup are key events organized by the FA, so they are thought to be difficult to cancel, even for a year.
Liverpool are three wins away from the championship (Part 1)
Against Bournemouth 2-1 in the 29th round on March 7, Liverpool were one step closer to winning the Premier League.
Sadio Mane is the hero of Liverpool’s victory. He passed the ball to teammate Mo Salah equalizing 1-1, shortly after the home team conceded. The Senegal striker then scored the goal himself, with a forte acceleration, beating the Bournemouth keeper to set the result 2-1 when the clock just scored 33 minutes.
The ungainly Van Dijk, Salah, Firmino and even Mane made Liverpool unable to score more goals in the remaining time. A 2-1 score means Liverpool have conceded for the first time and scored less than three goals against Bournemouth, after firing 17 goals and keeping clean sheets during the last five encounters. Coach Klopp is also more or less not satisfied, considering the babbling of the home defense.
However, after all, Liverpool can still smile the way the players share the joy with the fans at Anfield after the game. After two consecutive defeats, 0-3 at Watford in the Premier League and 0-2 at Chelsea at the FA Cup, Klopp’s teachers and students have returned to winning.
Not only being a little closer to the first Premier League title in history, defeating Bournemouth is also the spiritual boost needed to give Liverpool more confidence to prepare for the big battle in the Champions League mid-next week. Thursday 12/3, they will host Atletico Madrid with the task of reversing the situation after losing 0-1 away away in the first round of 1/8.
The desire to win after losing three of the last four matches makes Liverpool enter the game as if to eat the opponent alive. After only about five minutes of play, they were in complete control of the situation and at times made up to 9 in 10 Bournemouth players – not counting the goalkeeper – to retreat to the backyard to support.
In the midst of that ebbiness, Liverpool was poured into a cold water right after ninth minute. After a cross by Mane’s cross, the visitors counterattacked quickly. Host midfielder Joe Gomez made a mistake during a dispute with Callum Wilson, allowing him to pass to the right. Bournemouth coordinated another two beats, before Lerma stretched for Wilson to close the ball. VAR intervened, but still recognized the opener for the away team.
Guardiola proposed to kick it back in the FA Cup
Man City coach Pep Guardiola sees dropping the FA Cup replayings as a solution for English football to reduce the current competitive density.
“League Cup and FA Cup will still take place, but we should skip the replay, and there are fewer teams from the First Division or Premier League,” Guardiola said January 24.
The manager of Man City has repeatedly expressed concern about the players having to play too much. And Guardiola continued to speak, ahead of the FA Cup match against Fulham on Sunday 25 January – the 37th match of Man City from the beginning of the season.
However, Guardiola also asserted that in any case, Man City will always follow the FA schedule. He said: “I always try to be honest and answer questions, but I don’t think about what the FA has to do to reduce the current harsh schedules, it’s not my job. to get our team better every day. When the FA decided they had to play these games, those matches, we complied. ”
Man City are competing on all four fronts this season, including the Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and the Premier League. But the chances of Guardiola’s teachers and students defending the Premier League title are slimmer. After 24 rounds, they are 16 points less than the top of Liverpool – the team still has a match yet to play.
Liverpool lost just two points from the start of the season, and are believed to be able to break the championship record with 100 points set by City two years ago.
Man City used to set records when some people thought that the score record in the Premier League was impossible to break. Sooner or later.” Man City ‘s record will also be surpassed, this season, or later. History always shows that, “Guardiola said casually when talking about Liverpool’ s chances.
Man Utd face fierce schedule in the first month of 2020
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s teachers and students are likely to have to play eight matches in 25 days.
After the Wolves draw on 4/1 in the third round of the FA Cup, Man Utd had three days off before the match against Man City in the first leg of the League Cup first leg. On 11/1, they will play round 22 of the English Premier League with Norwich City. And then, on January 14 or January 15, they had to replay the FA Cup third round against Wolves.
The series of torture matches with Man Utd will continue with two Premier League matches against Liverpool (January 19) and Burnley (January 22). If they enter the fourth round of the FA Cup, they will play a match on January 25 or January 26. On January 29, Man Utd will play the semi-final second leg of the English League Cup.
In December 2019, Solskjaer teachers and students each experienced the same schedule with nine matches in 30 days. The density of the pitch makes the team almost overloaded, leading to fatigue and disturbance of the squad.
Besides fitness, injury is also a problem for Man Utd. Due to thigh pain, midfielder Harry Maguire is unlikely to play the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Man City. Midfielder Paul Pogba was also unable to play due to an ankle injury surgery.
Man Utd’s crisis of forces before the match against Man City
A series of Man Utd players are unlikely to play the first leg of the League Cup against Man City today 7/1.
Man Utd has two players who must treat long-term injuries, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay. In addition, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw are not sure to recover. On January 4, during the Wolves draw in the FA Cup, the three players were absent due to physical problems.
In defense, Man Utd is also facing a difficult choice related to Harry Maguire. In the Wolves draw, the world’s most expensive defender suffered a thigh injury. Man Utd will play the semi-final first leg on the evening of 7/1 at home. On January 29, in the second leg, the two teams will meet again on the pitch of Man City.
