The 5^th round of the FA Cup gets underway this Saturday and Sunday and the question is will there be any upsets or will it be business as usual?

Watford v Chelsea – Vicarage Road

Just last week I would have said there was no chance of Watford pulling an upset but I’m not sure. With Chelsea playing poor football and Scolari being sacked just 4 days before the match how will Chelsea react? Will they come out and have a hangover or will they take any anger over their managers dismissal out on Watford? The talent gulf is clear between the two clubs but that doesn’t always guarantee a victory. Watford does have the home pitch advantage which will help boost them. However, I still think Chelsea will squeak by Watford 2-1 but it won’t be pretty.

Derby County v Manchester United Episode III  “Revenge of the Rams?”- Pride Park

This will be the third time Derby and United have faced off this year, with Derby taking the first leg of the Carling Cup 1-0 and United taking the tie and second leg 4-2. I give Derby a 15% chance of springing the upset on United. Derby are playing good football right now, Rob Hulse and Kris Commons are on hot streaks and Commons has showed he not intimidated by United. Pride Park will be a sell out and the Rams fans will be loud and in full support of Derby. However United are full of talent and if they play like they can, Derby wont stand a chance. I think Derby will do well but I expect United to take this 3-2.

Swansea City v Fulham – Liberty Stadium

This is a battle of two teams who are performing above expectations in their respective leagues. Swansea City is showing it can handle life in the Championship with no problems while Fulham are having a good year after barely escaping relegation last season. Swansea isn’t afraid of any team and they will be playing at home which will help Fulham dispatched non-league Kettering Town while Swansea struggled to beat non-league Histon. I think Fulham will take this tie but it depends on which Swansea team shows up that will determine the score, my guess 3-1 Fulham.

Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City – Ewood Park

I sense an upset here, Blackburn are not playing well at all while Chris Coleman has Coventry doing well in the Championship. Blackburn struggled to get past fellow BPL team Sunderland while Coventry likewise had issues with BSP Torquay. I think out of all the ties this one has the best chance for an upset. Coleman has Coventry believing they can win and Blackburn are having a bad season. My guess 2-1 Coventry.

Sheffield United v Hull City – Bramell Lane

The surprise package of the BPL travels to a solid Sheffield United squad. While United are playing well and on track for the CCC playoffs, Hull are having a magical season in the BPL. They are not afraid of anyone which has contributed to their success. Hull takes this 1-0 in typical Hull fashion.

Arsenal v Cardiff City 4^th Round replay – Emirates Stadium

Cardiff did well to hold Arsenal in the first match but I think Arsenal will show their class in the replay of the tie. The talented youngsters Wenger has at his disposal is frightening. Arsenal to advance 4-2.

Sadly I see this weekend as a continuation of business as usual for the FA Cup. Other then Coventry springing an upset on Blackburn I think it will be a clean sweep for the BPL Clubs. I hope and would love to be proven wrong and of course Lets Go Ewe Rams!!

After another action packed weekend the sides in the Championship look like they are sorting themselves into the areas we can expect to find them in for the remainder of the season. Reading and Birmingham looking like they are going to bounce straight back whilst Doncaster and Notts Forest look destine to be involved in a relegation battle for the next 8 months.

However there are those that prove the rule that the Championship is the most unpredictable league with Plymouth currently occupying fourth whilst Watford and Crystal Palace are currently struggling near the bottom. However I don’t expect that to be the case come the end of the season, although following the relegation of Leicester and the promotion of Hull you can never say never.

Everyone knows that the Championship is unpredictable but it seems unlikely that we will have a season like the last with Hull and Bristol contesting the play-off final and Stoke going up. This season looks like it is going to go by the book though with Birmingham and Reading, who have managed to keep hold of their best players and use their parachute payments to their benefit, certainly looking like two of the best sides in the league.

Even Derby are starting to take steps in the right direction and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they were up there come the end of the season. It seems then that the £30m the Premier League give to relegated clubs is starting to effect the Championship whilst newly promoted clubs, with the exception of Swansea, are struggling to make the step up. It seems then that if the Football League wanted the Championship to be more like the Premier League then they are succeeding.

Whilst it may now be easier to bet on the Championship parachute payments are in danger of taking the unpredictability of the league away, one of the elements which makes this league so watch able.

As for the future well normally I would say who knows what it will hold but this season things look a little more predictable. The only thing that will change the way this season is going is the January transfer window. QPR have plenty to spend whilst others may stick their hands in their pockets if they believe there is a chance for promotion or to save themselves from relegation. At the minute though the odds for the Championship look like they aren’t going to change until we find ourselves at the play-off final again.

Here are the match-ups for the CCC clubs that have advanced to the Second Round of the Carling Cup. Ties will be played on August 26th and 27th at 7:45 GMT unless otherwise changed.

August 26th 

Burnely v Oldham Athletic (League One)

Cardiff City v MK Dons (League One)

Coventry City v Newcastle United (EPL)

Crewe(League One) v Bristol City

Ipswich Town v Colchester United(League One)

Leeds United(League One) v Crystal Palace

Preston NE v Derby County

QPR v Carlisle United (League One)

Reading v Luton Town (League Two)

Rotherham United (League Two) v Wolves

Southampton v Birmingham

Swansea City v Hull City (EPL)

Watford v Darlington (League Two)

August 27th

Huddersfield Town (League One) v Sheffield Untied

Nottingham Forest v Sunderland (EPL)

I went to the local pub intent on watching the UEFA Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg but that was dashed when I was informed they did not have Fox Soccer Channel, so I asked if they had Setanta and sure enough they did, so Hull v Watford it was!

The first half was at a good tempo with both goals coming off poor defending. Watford’s opener was not cleared and lead to a one-two tap in by Henderson that briefly gave Watford hope of a comeback. Despite having a lions share of the possession Watford wasted what it had, and both sides set pieces were poor to say the least. on 43 minutes Hul went back up 3-1 on aggregate when Barmby popped up for Hull on a very poorly Derbyesque clearance and made a lightning run to head the ball into the net right before halftime. Watford were once again down by two goals and Hull had the bit between thier teeth.

In the second half Watford were very fortunate to not go down when the ref missed a handball in the box but unlike the first leg the ref let things go and didn’t draw a lot of attention to himself. In the 58th minute Hull Keeper Boaz Myhill was called on to make his first save of the game and that was really one of Watfords only threats. The long ball Watford played all season wasn’t working and as they pushed up in an attempt to score Hull began to create chance after chance that finally payed off. In the 64th minute Folan came on for Dean Windass and in 6 minutes that substitution would play off when Folan headed in  a goal that all but ended this tie. After that Hull attacked at will and in the 89th minute Garcia got in on the action scoring for Hull making it 5-1 aggregate. Watford had one last chance in the 82nd minute when Hull made a goal line clearance that saved a certain goal but in the 90th minute Doyle got his first senior goal for Hull that gave the Tigers a 4-1 victory on the day and 6-1 overall.

Watford just gave up after Hull went up 2-1 in the match and they were cut to pieces by Hull. Hull attacked at will creating chance after chance and 3 of them went in. Set pieces by both teams were not much better in the second half as well, an improvement is needed there. Hull had the killer instinct and put this tie away when they had the chance at home in front of a very partisan and boisterous crowd. Now they are heading to Wembley in the CCC Playoff Final against cinderella story Bristol City.

Congratulations to Hull City and Bristol City for making it to the Coca-Cola Championship Playoff Final. They both won thier respective ties in convincing fashion, Bristol City winning 4-2 and Hull winning 6-1 on aggregate. I was half right when I predicted who would go through, got the Hull City part right, didn’t do so well with the Bristol City one.

Bristol City had a never say die attitude that was apparent over both legs of thier tie with Crystal Palace winning both legs 2-1. They always believed they could and would make it to the final and proved me along with many others wrong all season. Hull dominated thier tie with Watford winning 2-0 in the first leg and 4-1 in the second leg to secure thier trip to Wembely. It will be hard to separate these two teams since they are both flying high with confidence and winning thier ties with gusto. Whoever goes up with be in for a long season and almost certain relegation but for one day they will be kings and as a Derby fan I know the jubilation of winning the CCC playoffs. I am going out on a limb and saying Hull City will win promotion to the EPL by beating Bristol City 2-1.

Bristol City v Crystal Palace:

League Position 4th

Points: 74

Form past 5 matches: W-L-L-D-L

Crystal Palace:

League Position: 5^th

Points: 71

Form Past 5 Matches: W-L-W-W-W

Outlook:

Right now Crystal Palace are by far the hottest team in the Championship. They have won 4 or their past 5 matches and come in with confidence of continued winning. Bristol City while the surprise of the season coming up from League One last season, and a squad that was virtually unchanged from that promotion winning squad, ended the season on a skid that sent them out of the second automatic promotion spot. The two meetings between the teams saw Palace get a 2-0 victory at Bristol City while the match at Selhurst Park ended at 1-1. Credit has to be given to both managers Neil Warnock( Crystal Palace) and Gary Johnson (Bristol City) for the jobs they have done with their clubs. Bristol City was tipped to be relegated at the start of the season and they have been in the top ten since August defying odds makers, at one point they topped the table. When Warnock took over at Palace they were hovering near the relegation zone and looked doomed for the drop at the time, he took over and lead them to a playoff place against the odds. I think this will be a tight affair but Crystal Palace have the momentum and will come out victors in this tie. Aggregate score: Crystal Palace 4 Bristol City 2

Watford v Hull City

Watford:

League Position: 6^th

Points: 70

Form Past 5 matches: D-L-L-D-L

Hull City:

League Position: 3^rd

Points: 75

Form Past 5 Matches: L-W-L-W-D

Outlook:

Both teams are not having the end of the season they would like, Watford especially. At one point Watford topped the Championship but went into a free fall after January. They were fortunate to even make the playoffs and did so only by a goal difference of a single goal over Wolverhampton Wanders. Hull has had a solid season sitting mid-table for most of it, it was really only after Frazier Campbell of Manchester United came on loan that Hull started to pick up momentum and challenge for a playoff spot and that second automatic promotion spot as well. Both teams are struggling for form but I think Hull will advance to Wembley. Watford are in a tailspin and nothing Aide Boothroyd has done seems to stop the bleeding and I don’t see the playoffs being the cure for Watford’s form. Watford have surprised before in the playoffs but I don’t see a repeat of that here. Aggregate score: Hull City 5 Watford 2

Kicking off the weekend action on Friday is West Brom v Sheffield Wednesday. I hope for EPL Talk Community member fsquid‘s sake that Wednesday pull a result West Brom will want all three points to keep themselves in the thick of the playoff race.

On Saturday Birmingham host Southampton, whose play-off hopes have been dealt a blow with the news that left-back and free-kick specialist Gareth Bale is out for two weeks with a slight calf muscle tear. Sunderland will look to maintain or extend their lead when they host 18th place QPR. QPR have won three straight to pull themselves out of relegation danger.

Second place Derby travel to Ipswich with hopes of improving on their fantastic away record. Derby have twelve wins on their travels this season while Ipswich have only won 11 times at home. It has the makings of a good match as Ipswich’s offence has come to life in recent matches scoring 5 against both Hull and Barnsley in recent weeks while putting up three goals against Plymouth.

Early season leaders Cardiff have falled out of the playoff picture but visitors Stoke would be right in the thick of it with a win on Saturday. Stoke, who currently sit seventh, have won three in a row and a fourth consecutive win would really put pressure on the other clubs in the playoff positions.

The massive relegation battle this weekend sees Leeds host Burnley with Southend hosts Barnsely. Southend could vault out of the relegation spots with a win. Hull could also find themselves in trouble if they lose and both Leeds and Southend win this weekend.

The scheduled games are as follows:

April 13
West Brom v Sheff Wed

April 14
Birmingham v Southampton
Cardiff v Stoke
Coventry v Preston
Crystal Palace v Wolverhampton
Hull v Colchester
Ipswich v Derby
Leeds v Burnley
Leicester v Norwich
Luton v Plymouth
Southend v Barnsley
Sunderland v QPR

A great weekend of football in the Championship including a stunning 6-0 Southampton win over promotion rivals Wolverhampton. The Saints had eight first-team regular players out (Gareth Bale, Chris Baird, Claus Lundekvam, Grzegorz Rasiak, Kenwyne Jones, Djamel Belmadi, Jhon Viafara and their first-choice goalkeeper Kelvin Davis) but saw on-loan Marek Saganowski bag a hat-trick. Saganowski, a Polish-born striker on loan from Liuge Une side Troyes AC, now has seven goals from ten appearances with Saints and should earn a permanent move to the club. Not to be outdone by his countryman, backup keeper Bartosz Bialkowski kept his clean sheet which included turning aside a poorly-struck penalty kick from Wolves’ Michael Kightly. The penalty was awarded after defender Chris Makin blatantly handled the ball inside his own area. You can catch a nice highlight package of the game over on YouTube. Look for Saganowski’s magnificently chipped goal around 3:10.

An enthusiastic thumbs-up to the Wolverhampton fans for their wonderful display of support for the team and Mick McCarthy. The fans sang his name even with the team down 4-0 and sang “We’re going to win 6-5″ with Southampton up 5-0. Of course, in football’s often-cruel nature, it was while the fans were singing that Saganowski was gifted his hat-trick goal to make the final scoreline a shocking 6-0.

In other matches from the weekend, the Football League legend – 38 year-old Dean Windass hit a hat-trick to ease Hull City’s relegation fears. The Tiger’s 4-0 win over Southend United heaps more pressure on the Shrimpers who now sit 22nd just ahead of Leeds on goal differential. Windass now has seven goals from twelve appearances in his second stint at Hull. The striker’s first came two minutes before half-time when Daryl Flahavan parried his penalty but could not prevent him firing in the rebound. A rare Flahavan error set up his second, his third was a fine 79th-minute volley. Full-back Sam Ricketts added the fourth.

Sunderland continued to keep the pressure on Birmingham for the second automatic promotion spot with a 1-nil victory over playoff hopefuls Cardiff City. Black Cats substitute Ross Wallace curled home a 72nd-minute free-kick, catching Neil Alexander off-guard as the Bluebirds keeper lined up his defensive wall. This was Sunderland’s 10th win in 14 League games this year.

Derby kept their lead atop the table with a club record 12th away League win this season. The Rams pulled a 2-1 result against 20th place Barnsley. Birmingham City maintained their second-place spot with a comfortable 3-0 win over Coventry. Stoke City kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Leicester City. The Potters Ricardo Fuller had a man of the match performance by scoring a penalty and architecting the other three goals to move his club to within 5 points of a playoff spot. Jon Parkin, Mamady Sidibe and on-loan Sunderland midfielder Liam Lawrence scored for Stoke.

The rest of the scores:
Burnley 0 Luton Town 0
Colchester 3 Norwich City 0
Crystal Palace 1 Sheffield Wed 2
Ipswich Town 3 Plymouth 0

This past Thursday was the deadline for Football League teams to arrange loan deals. In exceptional circumstances, clubs can apply for special dispensation to the Premier League or Football League to arrange deals outside these times – for instance, if they had no goalkeepers available. Here’s a quick look at four of the “bigger” names to join teams in the Championship for part or all of the stretch run.

One of the bigger moves was pulled off by Birmingham who signed veteran striker Andy Cole on loan from Portsmouth. The 35-year-old Cole had made only five starts for Pompey since joining from Manchester City for £500,000 in August 2006. Cole was anxious to move somewhere in order to get some playing time. Cole and Birmingham manager Steve Bruce are well aquainted having been team-mates at Manchester United from January 1995 until May 1996. Harry Redknapp has revealed that Cole was allowed to move on loan as he could not find the right chemistry on the pitch with Portsmouth’s top scorer Kanu. “When I’ve played Andy and Kanu together up front I’ve had no one to run in behind teams,” he said.

Hull City signed Bolton striker Ricardo Vaz Te on a one-month deal to help aid their fight against relegation. Manager Phil Brown used to be the assistant manager at Bolton and is familiar with the capabilities of Vaz Te. The pacy 20-year-old is a Portugese U-21 international and joined Bolton from SC Farense in August 2003.

Blackburn defender Michael Gray joined the struggling Leeds side for an initial month loan with a view to seeing out the rest of the season at Elland Road. Gray, 32, previously spent three months at Elland Road in 2005. He has not been a regular for Rovers this season, making just 12 first-team appearances.

Leicester City signed West Ham midfielder Shaun Newton on loan until the end of the season. The 31-year-old former Charlton and Wolves player is looking to rebuild his career after missing most of the season due to a drugs ban. Newton served a six-month ban after traces of cocaine were found in his system after a routine drugs test undertaken following West Ham’s FA Cup semi-final win over Middlesbrough. Newton joined West Ham for £10,000 in March 2005 and was an integral part of Alan Pardew’s promotion-winning squad of 2004/05.

If you are curious, the BBC has a complete listing of loan deals.