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Koke

Aston Villa - League Cup semi final 2nd leg - 28/01/20

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18 minutes ago, KingsX said:

This tie should really be out of sight already. Going into the first leg of their semifinal against Aston Villa, Leicester were imperious, with only Manchester City and Liverpool having beaten them in the previous three months. For Villa on the other hand, that game was sandwiched between a defeat to Championship side Fulham in the FA Cup and that 6-1 hammering at the hands of City in the league. They didn't have a recognised striker, meaning they had fudge to a forward line together from three wingers and had their third-choice keeper between the sticks.

 

But Brendan Rodgers fiddled unnecessarily with his formation, playing a 3-5-2 and erring (by his own admission) by picking an out-of-form Youri Tielemans in the heart of midfield in place of the injured Wilfred Ndidi, instead of Hamza Choudhury. They could have won comfortably and made the second leg at Villa Park a formality, but the final scoreline was 1-1 and now Villa are a different proposition.

 

They have a goalkeeper of experience and calibre in Pepe Reina, plus new signing Mbwana Samatta is set to start up front, allowing Jack Grealish to revert to a more comfortable position. They have been able to settle more with the three-at-the-back system still in comparative infancy in the first leg, and come into this game having taken four crucial points from games against Watford and Brighton.

 

And furthermore, Leicester have doubts over Jamie Vardy, who missed their FA Cup win over Brentford with a glute strain, and while Kelechi Iheanacho is a fine deputy Rodgers is clearly desperate to have Vardy available.

 

"Will he be 100%? He might be 80%," said Rodgers this week. "But I'd rather an 80% Jamie Vardy [than none at all]."

 

In short, a draw in that first leg looked like a missed opportunity at the time, but it does even more so now, with Leicester in a weaker position and Villa stronger. That might be bad news for the Foxes, but it's terrific news for neutrals because this is a tie poised beautifully, the scores equal but with the better side playing away, both side desperate to get to their first major final in years.

 

Leicester last played such an occasion in 2000, when they won this tournament, and while Villa got to the 2015 FA Cup final, so much has happened to them since that it feels much longer ago. If the other semifinal is a foregone conclusion, this should be a thriller.

 

Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Leicester (2-3 on aggregate after extra-time).

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-carabao-cup/story/4041946/carabao-cup-preview-any-chance-of-an-upset-in-manchester-derby

 

So we can ignore any prediction coming from someone who doesn't even realise there is no extra time tonight.

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6 minutes ago, Kasey Keller said:

I was at the 0-0 game back in 2000 the first leg was at Villa, and Flowers played a fvcking blinder......

Then big matty put us through 1-0 in the return.

 

COME ON.

So you're telling me Kasper plays a blinder and Matty James comes on to score the winner? 

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22 minutes ago, ultrafox said:

So we can ignore any prediction coming from someone who doesn't even realise there is no extra time tonight.

 

 Touché.  Missed that in my desperation to interrupt the blow-by-blow of how everyone’s bowels are handling the build-up to the match.

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Really must switch this off and do some of the work that i actually get paid to do but is so hard to concentrate on anything much apart from kick off. Haven't been this excited/nervous about a game of football for bloody ages. This is probably the biggest single most important match we have played for years (and i am including the league winning season as nothing rested on one single match so much as this).  Perhaps CL QF but that was more hope than anything as we were trailing from the first leg and it was, all said and done a QF not a SF.

unless we are at least 2-0 up going into the last ten minutes i think i will still be biting my nails.

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2 minutes ago, urban fox said:

Really must switch this off and do some of the work that i actually get paid to do but is so hard to concentrate on anything much apart from kick off. Haven't been this excited/nervous about a game of football for bloody ages. This is probably the biggest single most important match we have played for years (and i am including the league winning season as nothing rested on one single match so much as this).  Perhaps CL QF but that was more hope than anything as we were trailing from the first leg and it was, all said and done a QF not a SF.

unless we are at least 2-0 up going into the last ten minutes i think i will still be biting my nails.

I dont think we need to worry to much.

 

if they try to play agaisnt us, we will pick them apart and providing we score we will control the game.

 

if they decide to play anti football 11 behind the ball, the crowd will get on their back quickly and we will win this time if they do that anyway.

 

when they drew with us at our place, my villa mate was so happy about their performance, i was like how can you be happy with that display it was awful and the only reason we didnt spank them 6 - 0 was because we somehow couldn't get the ball in the net.

 

 

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They're going to come out of the blocks flying, we need to be calm, clever and trust our ability. The first twenty minutes are Vital, I can guarantee that they will be looking to get a goal within the first half an hour and then look to kill the game.

 

They will come at us with raw emotion, flying into tackle's high pressing and look to stretch our back line, we need to be able to counter this, let them come out all guns blazing and exploit their weaknesses, before they know it they could well be 2-0 down, and quickly out of ideas.  

 

We need to counter their potential prehistoric approach with clever football, and confidence we need confidence. 

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2 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

They're going to come out of the blocks flying, we need to be calm, clever and trust our ability. The first twenty minutes are Vital, I can guarantee that they will be looking to get a goal within the first half an hour and then look to kill the game.

 

They will come at us with raw emotion, flying into tackle's high pressing and look to stretch our back line, we need to be able to counter this, let them come out all guns blazing and exploit their weaknesses, before they know it they could well be 2-0 down, and quickly out of ideas.  

 

We need to counter their potential prehistoric approach with clever football, and confidence we need confidence. 

or they will just be shit as they have all season.

 

i dont think they have what you described in them.

 

 

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3 hours ago, TheUltimateWinner said:

EFL Trophy maybe?

Yeah looking at the previous competitions we're not the only ones to have teams in all 3 at this stage.

 

2017/2018 Chelsea academy semi final efl trophy  + won fa cup + semi final league cup
2018/2019 man city academy quarter final efl trophy + won league cup + won fa cup

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If we perform to our capabilities, take our chances, and keep 11 men on the field, we win.

 

But if we allow Villa - and their fans - to knock us out of our stride, and fail to rise to the challenge both physically and mentally, they could easily mug us.

 

It’s going to be impossibly tense... but I can’t wait!

 

 

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