Talkin Sport - English Football Tips

ozmattuk writes "Here we go FA Cup Quarter Final weekend, and i'll try and do my best for all you lucky tipsters!

First up is Middlesbrough v Man United. Boro have struggled in the Cup this season so far. They haven't played a premiership side until now and have needed replays and penalty shoot-outs to get past West Brom and Bristol City. Man Utd are the best team in the land at present possibly Europe (very hard to type that being a massive Liverpool fan!!), and have comfortably gotten thus far. Hard to see Man United losing, but even with injuries up front, expect to see Henrik Larsson to score a goal on his final game in a devils shirt. United beat Boro at the Riverside 2-1 in December and i expect a similar result.

Next up is a Sunday lunch time (12:45 GMT standard time) kick off between two london rivals, Chelsea v Tottenham. Chelsea survived a midweek scare against Porto to qualify for the quarter finals in the Champions League and they can't be found wanting against a improving Spurs team. Spurs beat their london rivals for the first time for 33 games in the premiership back in early November and expect them to go very close here. Spurs hitman Dimitar Berbatov is by far one of the best buys this season and i expect him to cause the blues defence all sorts of problems, especially if captain John terry as expected misses this crunch game. Chelsea will be going all out for this one as they're are still on for the quad. I see this as a bit of a hangover game from both having midweek games. I see this as a score draw, and a replay back at White Hart Lane.

At 4pm, Blackburn v Manchester City is the penultimate game. Want it simple? Blackburn are a better than average team, City are poor. Rovers have been quietly making their way up the ladder while City are sinking fast. But this is a cup game so the form book should go out the window....not for me Rovers knocked out Arsenal in the last round and to win comfortably with Benni McCarthy on the scoresheet.

Finally, Sunday night- Plymouth v Watford. Plymouth (12th in the Championship) take on Watford (19th in the Premiership)and will be a preview for each other's fans for next season. This is a great opportunity for both teams to make a semi-final appearance and i think this will be extremely close. To be fair to Watford, they're in their best form of the season and if the Hornets tough it out for a draw expect them to win the replay at home. I fancy a upset though. Don't expect a high scoring game and i'll stick my neck out and a single goal victory for Plymouth.

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