Chelsea, Arsenal continue League Cup campaigns; Fowler returns to Liverpool with Cardiff
LONDON: Chelsea and Arsenal continue their attempts to reach the League Cup final for a second straight season when England's second-tier cup competition resumes this week.
Chelsea seeks to carry its resurgent form into its home match against two-time winner Leicester on Wednesday, when Premier League leader Arsenal is at Sheffield United.
Former Liverpool great Robbie Fowler comes up against his old team when Cardiff visits Anfield, and Juande Ramos takes charge of his first match at Tottenham when Spurs host Blackpool.
Chelsea won both the League Cup and FA Cup last season, becoming only the second team to win both trophies in the same season. The odds on the Blues retaining at least the League Cup have improved since the club's steady rise under coach Avram Grant.
After a rocky start, the former Israel coach has guided Chelsea to five straight wins in all competitions, including Saturday's 6-0 victory over Manchester City.
“People have asked a lot of questions over the last couple of months and it has not been easy but the players we have got can perform,” Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard said. “This was a reminder to ourselves that when we are on form, and on form at Stamford Bridge in particular, we can beat teams well.”
That bodes ill for Leicester, which is 15th in the League Championship and without a manager following Gary Megson's move to Bolton last week.
Under temporary coach and former player Gerry Taggart, the Foxes are coming off a 2-0 win over Barnsley but are short of the kind of experience that could trouble Chelsea.
They will have good support, though. Saturday's crowd of 24,133 at Walkers Stadium was the fifth biggest in England, with only Manchester United, Chelsea, Sunderland and Birmingham in the Premier League drawing more fans.
The club will have 6,500 supporters at Stamford Bridge.
“It was fantastic to see so many supporters inside the stadium to help us during what are difficult times,” Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric said. “To have registered the fifth biggest attendance in the country on the day just goes to prove once again the size and potential we have here.”
Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is looking at Wednesday's match at Bolton as an opportunity to bounce back from the heavy loss at Chelsea.
“We're lucky that we have a game on Wednesday, to turn things right,” Eriksson said. “It's better to wait two or three days than a whole week for the next game.”
Arsenal is unbeaten all season but faces a tricky match at a Sheffield United side struggling for form following its relegation from the Premier League.
The Blades have just one win in six matches but could get an opportunity for a morale-boosting victory because Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to rest several players following Sunday's 1-1 Premier League draw at Liverpool and field reserves.
Cardiff's game at Anfield won't be Fowler's first there for an opposition team — he played there three times for Manchester City — but it will be the first since his second spell at Liverpool finished at the end of last season.
He joined the League Championship side after Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez released him.
“Robbie is a player with fantastic movement,” Benitez said. “He didn't have the legs you need in a top side, but he had everything (else) — the passion, the commitment, the mentality and the character.”
Fowler joined Liverpool as at age 11 and went on to score 120 goals for the first team before leaving in 2001 for Leeds and then Manchester City. He returned to Liverpool in January 2006 for a less fruitful second stint.
He scored a last-minute equalizer against Liverpool for City in a home 2-2 draw in December 2003, but has never scored at Anfield for anyone other than the Reds.
“I don't want to see him scoring goals in this game,” Benitez said. “I want to see him before the game very happy and after it a little bit disappointed — and then scoring 20 goals and being the top scorer in the league.”
Benitez is aware the 32-year-old former England international can still pose a threat to his side, which was held 1-1 by Arsenal on Sunday in the Premier League.
“For a player with the problems he had with injuries at his age, he was fantastic,” Benitez said.
Everton is at Luton, and Portsmouth hosts Blackburn in Wednesday's other games, while West Ham is at Coventry on Tuesday.
Posted by admin on October 29th, 2007 filed in Sport
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