England FA Cup 6-9. January

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Manchester United vs Everton Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Manchester United:
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, L Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial

Everton:
Pickford; Coleman, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Iwobi, Gueye, Onana; McNeil, Calvert-Lewin, Gray

Manchester United welcome fellow Premier League side Everton to Old Trafford in the most interesting match of the third round of the FA Cup. The Red Devils will enter the match off the back of a convincing 3:0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League on Tuesday. United dominated the game and deserved the victory. Man United made it six straight wins in all competitions. Casemiro scored the first goal, while Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford also found the back of the net. Manchester United are fourth on the table with 35 points, two more than fifth-placed Tottenham. The atmosphere in the squad is excellent, while the players confidence is high. Erik ten Hag's men have won all four matches after the World Cup, scoring nine times in the process. And more important, they kept four clean sheets despite the fact lot of defenders were injured. The situation looks much better now, but Ten Hag still has some injury worries. Axel Tuanzebe remain sidelined, while Jadon Sancho is rated as doubtful. Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial suffered knocks in Tuesday's fixture with Bournemouth and it is not clear if they will recover in time. Antony missed the team's last game and remain questionable. Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot played against Bournemouth, featuring for the first time since the World Cup. Ten Hag is expected to make few changes for this match.

Everton are experiencing another difficult season. Last year they managed to escape the relegation, but it seems the history is repeating. At the moment they are in the relegation zone, third from the bottom. Manager Frank Lampard is under enormous pressure, but the 44-year-old remains in the role for now. The Toffees made a big surprise when visited Manchester City on December 31, as they held the reigning champions to an 1:1 draw in the Premier League. Nevertheless, just few days later they suffered a 4:1 home loss to Brighton. According to some pundits, Lampard should put the focus on the upcoming Premier League fixtures with Southampton and West Ham. That means Lampard could rest some of his key players. About the team news - Amadou Onana has missed the match with Brighton due to a suspension and should be in the starting eleven for this game, while Anthony Gordon could return following illness. Lampard will again be without James Garner, Michael Keane and Andros Townsend. That's not all, Nathan Patterson is the latest injury victim. He suffered a knee injury against Brighton. Lampard is expected to make some changes from Tuesday's game. That means Onana could play in the midfield, while Seamus Coleman is the other expected to replace Patterson, but the likes of Dwight McNeil, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Demarai Gray should retain their spots.

Manchester United vs Everton Prediction:

I think Manchester United will win this match. I also think they will win with at least two goals. The Red Devils kept clean sheet on the all four matches after the World Cup break. The atmosphere in the club is excellent after the series of victories and Ten Hag will not calculate. Everton are awful this season and they are between the relegation candidates. The Toffees made a huge surprise playing an 1:1 draw at Etihad, but just few days later were humiliated by Brighton. Everton are poor and I expect to continue with defeats.

Manchester United vs Everton Pick: Manchester United -1.5 AH @ 2.36 with Pinnacle

 

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Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Liverpool:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Gomez, Robertson; Keita, Fabinho, Henderson; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo

Wolverhampton:
Sarkic; Semedo, Collins, Kilman, Ait-Nouri; Hodge, Neves, Nunes; Traore, Jimenez, Cunha

Liverpool will begin the FA Cup campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. The Reds were winners of both England cups last season, though the dreams of defending the League Cup have already come to an end after the defeat to Manchester City. Considering the current form, the fans may not be all that optimistic about their team's chances of retaining their FA Cup crown. Liverpool will enter the clash against Wolverhampton on the back of a frustrating 3:1 defeat to Brentford in the Premier League. Ibrahima Konate's own goal and Yoane Wissa's header put the Bees two goals ahead, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back early in the second half, but Bryan Mbeumo decided the winners in the finish of the match. To be worse, key defender Virgil van Dijk suffered an injury and will be out for at least five weeks. Arthur, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota are also out injured, but James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson could recover in time for this match. Cody Gakpo has completed the documentation and the 23-year-old could start from the first minute.

Wolverhampton played an 1:1 draw in West Midlands derby with Aston Villa. Daniel Podence scored an early goal for the Wolves, but it was cancelled out by Danny Ings 12 minutes from time. New manager Lopetegui has a solid start at Molineux. He recorded victories over Gillingham and Everton, suffered a narrow defeat to Manchester United and shared the points with Villa. The Spaniard will try to take advantage of Klopp's problems in order to secure progress to the fourth round. Wolverhampton have four previous FA Cup successes, although the latest came in 1960. The Wolves know how to upset the Reds. As well as eliminating Liverpool in the 2018-19 third round, Wolves also dumped the Merseyside giants out in round four under Klopp in the 2016-17 season. Coach Lopetegui also has some injury worries ahead of this match. Podence is rated as doubtful after coming off at half time against Villa with a knock. Nevertheless, midfielder Boubacar Traore was unlucky to picked up an injury which could rule him out for at least two months. Chiquinho, Pedro Neto and Sasa Kalajdzic remain long-term absentees. Some changes are expected, Lopetegui could start with goalkeeper Matija Sarkic, while Matheus Cunha, who came on loan from Atletico Madrid, should have his debut.

Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Prediction:

I think both teams will score. Liverpool play at home and they will attack from the very first minute. With Gakpo in the team, they will be much stronger in attack. At the same time Klopp has big problems in defense as his key man Virgil van Dijk is out injured. Wolverhampton have scored on five of the last six matches across all competitions and I think they will find the back of the net again.

Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.90 with Everygame

 

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Manchester City vs. Chelsea Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Manchester City:
Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Cancelo; Gundogan, Phillips, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish

Chelsea:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Cucurella; Jorginho, Zakaria, Chukwuemeka; Ziyech, Havertz, Aubameyang

Manchester City welcome Chelsea to the Etihad in the FA Cup third round's encounter. That will be the third mutual game in space of two months. Furthermore, Manchester City and Chelsea played in the Premier League just three days ago. The Citizens were more successful on both occasions. Man City won 2:0 the League Cup encounter played in November. Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez scored the goals in the second half. Pep Guardiola's side were more successful on Thursday too, only this time one goal was enough for the victory. It was a tight match with opportunities on both sides, however the reserves decided the winner. Just three minutes after Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez were introduced into the fray, the latter scored the lone goal and closed the gap on leaders Arsenal down to five points.

Manchester City will try to secure the third consecutive victory against the Blues, this time in FA Cup. As the old saying goes, "the third time is the charm". The reigning champions are in solid form at the moment. The Citizens have played four times after the World Cup break and registered three victories and one draw. They beat Liverpool in the EFL Cup, as well as Leeds United and Chelsea in the Premier League, but dropped two points in a 1:1 draw with Everton. The atmosphere in the club is very good, while the players confidence is high. City are five points adrift of leaders Arsenal, but many pundits believe Arteta can't win the race with his former teacher Guardiola. However, it will be a very interesting season. Pep has most of his players available for this match, but Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias remain sidelined with a back and hamstring injuries respectively. Laporte is very close to full recovery, but is unlikely to be risked here. Some players, like World Cup hero Julian Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips, Mahrez and Grealish could benefit from some much-needed rotation.

This is a turbulent season for Chelsea. A poor start resulted with Thomas Tuchel's change, but the inconsistency continued. The actual manager Graham Potter is under heavy pressure after the Blues suffered five defeats in the last seven matches in all competitions. The away form is also poor, they have no win on road since October. The poor form isn't the only problem for Potter as he has huge injury worries ahead of this match. No fewer than 10 players are struggling with injury at the moment. Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic are the latest victims after both players came off early in the Thursday's defeat to Man City with a hamstring injury and knock respectively. Mason Mount also suffered an injury before the start of the match and none of the mentioned trio should feature here. Reece James, Armando Broja, N'Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy remain sidelined, while three more players are rated as doubtful - Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Some of the young talents could benefit from the situation, such as Carney Chukwuemeka, Omari Hutchinson and Lewis Hall. The same counts for veteran striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Manchester City vs. Chelsea Prediction:

Manchester City should win the match. According to me, they are the best team in Europe. Guardiola has two good players on each position, so the rotation should not be a problem at all. On contrary, Chelsea are in poor form, particularly away from home. The Blues have scored just one goal on the last three matches played on road. In addition, Potter has lot of injured players. I expect City to win with at least two goals.

Manchester City vs. Chelsea Pick: Manchester City -1.5 AH @ 2.08 with Pinnacle

 

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Manchester United vs Everton Pick: Manchester United -1.5 AH @ 2.36 with Pinnacle

3-1

 

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Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.90 with Everygame

2-2

 

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Oxford United vs Arsenal Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Oxford United:
McGinty; Anderson, Long, Moore, Brown; Bate, McGuane, Brannagan; Wildschut, Taylor, Murphy

Arsenal:
Turner; Tomiyasu, Holding, Saliba, Tierney; Elneny, Lokonga; Marquinhos, Odegaard, Vieira; Nketiah

Oxford United welcome the most successful team in FA Cup history to the Kassam Stadium on Monday night. Arsenal are huge favorites in this match, but the League One outfit won't give up easily. Oxford have already eliminated Woking and Exeter City in the previous stage of the competition and they will try to surprise Arsenal. Oxford United have managed to progress to the fourth round in three of the last six seasons, so their fans should dare to dream of a historic giant killing. But the actual form isn't at desired level, Karl Robinson's men have suffered two defeats on the last three matches in League One. First they lost 3:0 to Ipswich Town on Boxing Day and also lost 1:0 to Exeter City on New Year's Day. With 29 points, they sit on the 15th position in the League One. The narrow defeat to Exeter came at home and marked the end of a five-game unbeaten run for Oxford at the Kassam Stadium. Robinson has some additional worries as he remain without both Kyle Joseph and Sam Baldock due to injuries. Marcus Browne is also sidelined, so Robinson could hand a debut to Brandon Fleming, who has arrived on a short-term loan deal from Hull City.

As I already wrote above, Arsenal are the most successful team in the FA Cup history with 14 titles to the club's name. The most recent win came in 2020 when defeated Chelsea at Wembley. Furthermore, Arsenal has featured in 21 FA Cup finals, more than any other English team. The last years were not successful for Arsenal, but this season could be quite different. The Gunners are leaders on the table and the fans start dreaming about the title. Arteta's men have played three matches after the World Cup break. They managed to beat West Ham and Brighton, but played only a goalless draw with Newcastle. The players confidence is very high, though Arteta has some injury concerns ahead of this match. Gabriel Jesus and Reiss Nelson remain sidelined with a knee and thigh injury respectively, but Emile Smith Rowe could be ready for his first appearance since September after recovering from groin surgery. Some changes are expected ahead of next weekend's derby with Tottenham, starting with Matt Turner, who could replace Aaron Ramsdale in goal. Rob Holding, Fabio Vieira, Mohamed Elneny, Marquinhos and Albert Sambi Lokonga could also receive a place in the starting eleven. Cedric Soares is close to leave the club as Fulham want to sign a deal with the Portuguese defender.

Oxford United vs Arsenal Prediction:

Arsenal are huge favorites in this match. The Gunners are the most successful side in the FA Cup history and they are looking for a record-extending 15th title. Oxford United are handicapped as some important players are injured. However, I think the hosts will leave the hearts on the pitch. This is a rare opportunity to impress against the Premier League leaders. Having on mind Arteta will rest most of his first-choice players, I think Oxford won't lose with three or more.

Oxford United vs Arsenal Pick: Oxford United +2.5 AH @ 1.66 with Pinnacle

 

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Manchester City vs. Chelsea Pick: Manchester City -1.5 AH @ 2.08 with Pinnacle

4-0

Oxford United vs Arsenal Pick: Oxford United +2.5 AH @ 1.66 with Pinnacle

0-3