Three months ago there was strong talk of Arsenal locking away at least one piece of silverware this season with the Carling Cup being the first target. They were also well in the hunt for FA Cup, Champions League, and Premier League honours. One by one these have fallen away. Arsenal somehow managed to lose the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, and this week saw them bow out of the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona. Tomorrow, they face League leaders Manchester United in the quarter finals of the FA Cup – is that another cup to go begging?
United will take home ground advantage into this match and with Arsenal’s recent history of losing the games that really count, it would be hard to back them to beat United. Interestingly, online bookmakers have United at evens in betting with Arsenal at 3/1. It’s often you see Manchester United at these odds for a home game – they should win so grab the evens while you can.
In other quarter final games, Birmingham are at 2/1 against Bolton who are marginal favourites at 9/5. Birmingham have a real belief in these games and 2/1 does seem to be fairly generous. The draw at 23/10 is also worth considering. We’ll not sit on the fence for this game – Birmingham at home at 2/1 – good odds.
On Sunday, Stoke are at 6/5 to defeat West Ham who are drifting at 11/4; Stoke are hard to beat on their own turf and West Ham have struggled for much of this season. They are well led now and that could make some difference, but Stoke, at home, look to be a good thing.
In the final quarter final game, Manchester City are 2/5 against a plucky Reading (8/1). It’s hard to see the Championship side taking this away from City, however, City can be brittle at times, as we saw this week in their Europa Cup loss. They don’t seem to dominate as well at home as they once did either. All that aside, it’s still hard to see City losing. Bookmakers have made them the shortest-priced favourite for the weekend while Reading are the longest price – just to be different, we’re going to back the ninety minute draw at 4/1.