Weekend Football

The end of the season draws another step closer to the end this weekend as Man City continue to try and close the gap on leaders Man United and the teams at the bottom look for vital points in the relegation scrap. Outside of the Premiership Wembley plays host to the FA Cup semi final between Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton while in the other semi final Spurs take on Chelsea, also at Wembley.
          Manchester United host Aston Villa looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at Wigan midweek which allowed Man City to close the gap to five points. Alex McLeish's side are still not totally safe as they linger just six points above the drop zone with game in hand against Bolton still to come. Villa have been in poor form of late and if that continues and they don't pick up points in their next three games then their in for a nervy end to the campaign. With QPR and Wigan starting to pick up points more regular and Bolton and Blackburn having realistic chances of getting points coming up the pressure really is on Villa. They should be fired up and going at United all guns blazing on Sunday and going all out to get a shock win. If they get the win then they take a lot of pressure off and put themselves in touching distance of safety. United, on the other hand, have to get back to winning ways. Another loss would pile the pressure on the champions and give City more hope. Sir Alex has already stated that Paul Scholes will be back in the side for Sunday's game and that is great news for all United fans. Without him they lacked the creativity that we became accustomed to when Scholes has played. I think Villa will be safe this season but I don't see them getting a result at Old Trafford. United should win but I wouldn't expect to see many goals. In their quest to close the gap City have to travel to Norwich City. Norwich have already guaranteed their safety in their first season back in the Premier League and are only three points behind Liverpool and are looking like finishing in the top ten. They will be up against it on Saturday in the lunchtime kickoff against a City side fresh from a 4-0 win against West Brom. They looked very good on Wednesday and one can only ask how they would have done the past two months if they had no off-field distractions and played the football we all know they are capable of. Mancini must take some of the blame himself for their poor run of games. Away from home they don't play to win. Against Arsenal last weekend they seemed to be playing for a draw and that's not good enough for a team with those players. If they do the same against Norwich they might struggle but I think they will have enough to get over a potentially tricky game. In terms of the tile race I think no points will be gained or lost this weekend although City will have one game less to catch their neighbours.
          At the bottom of the table Wolves could find themselves all but relegated this weekend. If they lose to Sunderland away which is very possible then they will be nine points off survival with just twelve points left to play for. Even if they get a win it still remains likely that Wolves will be playing in the Championship next season. Three wins in four has brought Wigan out of the relegation zone and their win over United on Wednesday was well deserved and should give them great confidence going to the Emirates Monday night. If they get another win there then I would expect them to survive this season. Arsenal should provide a better test than the one they faced Wednesday though and I would expect Arsenal to pick up all three points in that one. Blackburn travel to Swansea looking for a win to boost their survival hopes. They looked good not long ago and were picking up some wins but unfortunately for them they have now lost four on the spin. Swansea have a great home record and I don't think Blackburn will get the result they desire and we could see a draw in this one although Swansea have also lost four in a row. QPR can take a huge step towards survival if they win away to West Brom. Three wins in their last six has given Mark Hughes' side hope but they have got a tough run in so games like this become must win games for them. I think QPR can take the points against a West Brom side battered in midweek.
         Also this weekend is of course the FA Cup semi finals at Wembley. Liverpool and Everton should be a great match. Liverpool have been shocking lately which for a club of that stature is simply not good enough. Winning the FA Cup would go a long way to making up for the poor league form. However, in Everton they face a very stiff challenge. Apart from the fact that Everton are a very good side considering they have no money to buy more players the local rivalry makes this match difficult to call. Everton are coming off the back of a 4-0 win against Sunderland despite resting players and Liverpool finally got back to winning ways against Blackburn. This should be a cracking semi final filled with pride as not only is there a place in a cup final at place but local pride. I wouldn't be confident picking either side as I would expect Liverpool to go through as it has to be decided on the day and Everton tend to produce their best in the FA
Cup beating Man United and Chelsea in recent years. I have a hunch that Everton might sneak it. In the other semi final Chelsea and Spurs should be another great match on Sunday evening. Spurs have been very good this season although they faded away in their title quest a few months back but are back on track now and I think they might just have too much for Chelsea this weekend. Chelsea have been a tough side to beat recently and Di Matteo will be looking to add an FA Cup final to the Champions League semi final they recently made. I think Spurs are too creative and they have so many players who can score that I think they are going to win this one.
          This weekend should be packed with entertainment with so many important matches. The two FA Cup finals should be well worth a watch and the matches between the Manchester clubs will be worth watching to see if either side feels the pressure and suffers a shock result. The relegation battle is sure to take more twists this weekend as teams feel the heat. It should be a very exciting weekend and I certainly can't wait to see how it plays out.