Tomorrow night will see Chelsea visit Old Trafford for the second leg of their League Cup semi-final against Man United. Having drawn 0-0 at Stamford Bridge, frankly, I don't fancy United's chances. For those who don't understand how two-legged rounds work in football (i.e. those of you pampered by best-of-seven series in North America), the scores are aggregated over the two matches. First tie-breaker is away-goals; if the two teams are tied on aggregate after 90 minutes of the second leg, the team with more away-goals goes through. If they have an equal number of away-goals, extra-time (I believe the fashion nowadays is Silver Goal extra-time) is played. If things are not settled after 30 minutes of extra-time, we go to penalties.
In the context of tomorrow's match, United need a win to go through. A scoring draw or United loss will see Chelsea through, while a second scoreless draw will take us to extra-time and possibly penalties. Hence why I don't fancy United, unless they field a near-full-strength side. Play the likes of Bellion, Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba and Fortune, and it's a recipe for disaster against a Chelsea squad with depth matched only by their owner's pocket. If Chelsea scores early, it will be all over for us. Chelsea have kept cleansheets in 18 of 24 league matches this season, and have allowed 2 goals only twice. They have been held off the scoresheets only three times this league season, plus once in the League Cup and once in the Champions League. Not to be a pessimist, but the best I'm hoping for is another scoreless draw.
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