FA Cup Fever Comes To Town
While this years FA Cup tournament is one which will linger in the memory for some time with only one premiership team in the last four, it will not be easy for Portsmouth to secure a trip to the final on Saturday, when they entertain WBA at Wembley stadium. As Barnsley and Cardiff get ready for their encounter on Sunday, the weekend is set up for a great battle!
Looking back to the earlier rounds there will literally have been millions upon millions of pounds lost on dead certs like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea battling it out to the later stages. Unfortunately for the gambling population these ‘dead certs’ are long gone, left to ‘concentrate on the league’. However there are still some very interesting odds to look at with WBA more than capable of giving Pompey a run for their money. The ageless Kevin Phillips seems to go on and on, while Portsmouth will be without Defoe (who is cup tied) as well as top scorer Benjani who was sold to Manchester City earlier in the season. You have to favour Portsmouth slightly, but it will be no walk in the park!
In the other semi-final we see Barnsley take on cash strapped Cardiff City who are literally on the verge of administration if the courts rule that they need to repay a multi-million pound load immediately. There seems little to separate Barnsley and Cardiff City in this one and while both have suffered injuries to key players over the last week, if they can regain any of their form from earlier rounds we could be in a for a cup classic.
This weekend promises to be one of the most interesting FA Cup weekends for some time, and quite who will actually end up at Wembley on Cup Final day remains to be seen.
