English FA CUP
2013-03-10 - Manchester United vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English FA Cup Sixth Round
Sunday 10 March 2013 - Kick Off 4:30pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester United
A controversial decision effectively cost Manchester United a place in the Quarter Final of the Champions League and ended the dream of replicating the treble success of the class of 1999. However, there is still plenty of positives to take going forward and trying to win the FA Cup for the first time since 2004 has really got the players chomping at the bit.
With a 12 point lead in the Premier League, the Champions League had taken on added importance for Sir Alex Ferguson, but that has to be put on hold for another season. Throughout this competition, he has taken the FA Cup seriously as Manchester United have had to see off Premier League opposition in every Round with wins over West Ham United, Fulham and Reading already been completed at Old Trafford.
Tuesday's defeat to Real Madrid means an 18 game unbeaten run came to an end for Manchester United, while it was the first defeat at Old Trafford since early December when Cluj won here in the final game of the Group Stage. United had won 10 in a row at Old Trafford before the game on Tuesday night so they'll still be confident in their chances of getting through to the Semi Final from this one.
Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil Jones will all be missing. Wayne Rooney is expected to be restored to the side, while Nani is not going to be blamed for his sending off on Tuesday.
Chelsea
Neither Sir Alex Ferguson nor Rafa Benitez wanted to get involved in a war of words ahead of this game, but the pressure is certainly building on the latter. A poor 1-0 loss to Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League on Thursday will have irritated the fans and losing in the FA Cup is only going to make things even tougher for the Spanish manager.
Chelsea have a fight to get back into the Champions League next season as both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are chasing two positions with the Blues. They have won the FA Cup in 3 of the last 4 seasons so going out now will likely see Benitez being blamed, although Chelsea have come through against Southampton, Brentford and Middlesbrough in the previous Rounds.
The loss in Bucharest on Thursday has begun to highlight the poor run of form Chelsea have been on away from home in recent weeks. They have won just 2 of their last 8 away games in all competitions, while they have been beaten in 3 of their last 5 games on their travels.
Demba Ba should be given the start up front in this game, while Benitez has been rotating his squad for the large number of games Chelsea have been facing. Victor Moses, Ramires and Juan Mata will all be hoping to return to the starting line up amongst others.
Head to Head
Chelsea and Manchester United have played out two high-scoring games already this season, both at Stamford Bridge.
The League game ended in favour of United, 2-3, while the Capital One Cup game was won by Chelsea 5-4 after extra time.
Manchester United have beaten Chelsea 3 times in a row at Old Trafford and have won 5 of their last 6 when hosting the Blues here.
Prediction
I think there will be a really positive reaction from Manchester United after the controversy of Tuesday night and I think United are certainly been in better form than Chelsea.
That isn't to say it will be an easy match for United, because it won't, but I think Chelsea don't have the belief to win at Old Trafford at the moment. United have plenty of goals in the side and I can see a situation where Wayne Rooney scores the winning goal after being dropped on Tuesday.
I don't think United's confidence will be shattered after their result against Real Madrid as they were the better team before the unfortunate refereeing decision. Odds on shouts are not for me normally as I have respect for what Chelsea can do on their day.
However, the form is pointing to the home win and I'll take Manchester United to move into the Semi Final.
The Pick :
Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea
