Two
premier league sides with differing tales to tell meet today in the
fourth round of the FA Cup. Fulham lost to Liverpool on Wednesday but
gave a very good account of themselves and should have at least
finished on level terms if not for some wayward shooting by Belgian
forward, Dembele. Today they will have to step up with the visit of
Tottenham. The London side have been playing some eye-catching stuff
and are fifth on the league table. Dickson Etuhu should return to the
Fulham team after a bout of injury but his replacement, Steve Sidwell,
gave a good account on his debut for the Cottagers. Tottenham are in
danger of losing Gareth Bale to a back injury but have the good luck of
having bought Steven Pienaar from Everton.
Harry Redknapp told
Reuters, “He’s been to see a specialist and it shouldn’t be too long, a
bit of work on it and he should be okay.
“He’s never, ever
needed an operation. That’s the last resort when you have a back
problem. He has a little back injury that went into a spasm, but he
should be back in 10 days.” Roman Pavlyuchenko and Benoit Assou-Ekotto
should return to the team after the both missed the trip to Newcastle.
Fulham have already
lost twice to Spurs this season but Fulham captain, Danny Murphy
believes the defeat was based on small margins. Murphy spoke on his
club site that, “I thought we were desperately unlucky in both the
games we played against them so far this season. We’ve also got nearly
a fully fit squad to choose from, other than one or two missing and
hopefully we’ll be able to give them a good game. We owe them one for
knocking us out last year.”
Adebayor to make his debut
The charge
continues for Jose Mourinho and his boys at the Estadio Reyno de
Navarra, where they have to face Osasuna today. Real Madrid managed a
slim 1-0 win over Mallorca last weekend courtesy of Karim Benzema’s
third goal for the club in 20 appearances and with the loan signing of
Emmanuel Adebayor completed on Thursday, Mourinho now has more options
in attack. He can decide to play the conventional 4-4-2 or continue
with the much vaunted 4-3-3 all-out attacking frame. Mourinho’s team
continued to show character with the 1-0 win over Sevilla in the Copa
del Rey first leg semi-final match. Adebayor is keen to get straight
into action. “I have no idea where Pamplona – the home city of Osasuna,
but they have told me it will be difficult to win there. I hope to
play,” Adebayor told Spanish radio station, Cadena Ser on Thursday.
“My first
conversation with Jose Mourinho was positive but we haven’t gone into
details yet (about his role),” the Togolese international concluded.
Meanwhile Osasuna
are just a point above the relegation places, so a loss could push them
furtively closer to the ignominy of the second division. The first leg
ended 1-0 in favour of the Los Blancos courtesy of a 48th minute goal
by Ricardo Carvalho. That match witnesses fans jeering the ‘Special
One’ but Mourinho said it was expected as his team did not perform
well. “The public can jeer if they want and I can respect it,” said
Mourinho.
“I work for the
total satisfaction of the public and they pay me to work and not to
criticise the fans. I will never say anything against the fans of Real
Madrid. Is it only at the Bernabeu where they demand more? I don’t know
any supporters of any big clubs that settle for less. “It is nothing
new for me.” Today the battle will be won by the team that shows the
most desire.
Inter Milan need all three points
After the first
loss had been digested by Inter’s new manager, Leonardo, it will be a
return to the safe surroundings of the San Siro to host Palermo, who
are two places below but separated by a point. Inter MilanMilan’s
defence of their Scudetto had decidedly gone off the tracks before the
Club World Cup triumph in Abu Dhabi. Samuel Eto’o made all the
difference in the first leg, when he scored two goals to cancel out
Josip Ilicic’s opener after 28 minutes. But Eto’o equalised in the 63rd
minute before getting the winner, seven minutes later at the Stadio
Renzo Barbera. Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini has blamed the
referee for that defeat and his players will be keen to pay Inter
Milanback. Zamparini said after the September 19 defeat that, “Maybe
the referee got heatstroke today, as if those incidents had occurred in
the Palermo area, he would’ve awarded four penalties against us. He
lost us the game.
“There were four
penalty incidents. Two were absolutely clear; two could’ve been given
or not given depending on the interpretation. It’s a bit much,
especially considering the penalty awarded against us in Brescia last
week was non-existent.” Juve are floundering Udinese humbled Inter
Milanlast weekend and get another chance to continue their
giant-killing act as they face Juventus today at the Stadio OLympico.
Juventus were roundly beaten 2-0 by Roma on Wednesday in the Coppa
Italia and Coach Luigi Del Neri will start looking over his shoulder as
his team is dragged towards mid-table existence. Juventus have been
performing below par in recent weeks and Del Neri knows that the
fortunes of his team must rebound or he could be out of a job very soon.
Battle of the Nigerians
Monaco are looking
down the barrel and their case could be worsened by the visit of
defending champions, Olympique Marseille to the Velodrome. Monaco’s
young Nigerian midfielder, Lukman Haruna has also not been having the
best of seasons. Marseille also have another Nigerian in Taye Taiwo,
bombarding down the left flank, so it could just become the tale of two
Nigerians. While Monaco need all the points they can get to stave off
relegation, Marseille need the points to keep pace with pace-setters,
Lille Metropole, who are six points better with 38 points.
