City on the march to Wembley

City on the march to Wembley

Two TAB Soccer 10 pools – one today and one tomorrow – are set to reach R3-million, headlined by Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal in the FA Cup, and the highly anticipated match between Pirates and Gallants, where the Bucs are regarded as a banker bet.

By Mark Gleeson

It is never an easy road to Wembley and the FA Cup final in May, but for Manchester City, the route has been made markedly tougher this year.

They were drawn against Chelsea in the third round and after producing an impressive 4-0 victory were handed another massive opponent in Arsenal, who they host tonight in the fourth round.

The match is a marquee kick-off to the weekend’s cup action where there are as many Premier League clubs (11) involved as there are sides from the Championship looking for places in the fifth round.

Holders Liverpool are at Brighton & Hove Albion in the only other all-Premier League tie, just a fortnight after a humiliating 0-3 loss to the Seagulls, who will be fancied to inflict more pain on Jurgen Klopp’s inconsistent Reds.

There are also two all-Championship tussles and one featuring two League One sides against each other, where Sheffield Wednesday are fancied to beat Fleetwood at Hillsborough.

Wrexham are the last non-league side involved and host Championship highflyers Sheffield United on Sunday. The Welsh club dumped 10-man Championship side Coventry out in the third round with a spectacular 4-3 win and are making their first fourth-round appearance since 2000.

Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have added much glamour and interest to Wrexham, who head the National League standings and look headed back to the Football League. But the Blades will surely be too strong for them.

In the DStv Premiership, Kaizer Chiefs will come under intense scrutiny with the possibility they might lose a fourth game in a row. They are hosting Royal AM but have moved the match to Polokwane as part of a deal with the local municipality to play three of their home games there before the end of the season.

Chiefs have only once before lost four on the trot – in April last year when they were beaten by SuperSport United, Stellenbosch FC, Lamontville Golden Arrows and Cape Town City.

Royal AM do not have the ammunition to blow away Chiefs but are an unpredictable outfit. Often, however, it is Chiefs who mastermind their own undoing.

Orlando Pirates will be hoping to keep up their positive turn of fortune after wins over Golden Arrows and Stellenbosch. They are away at Marumo Gallants, who look headed for relegation. Gallants have won just two of their last 28 league games (D15 L11) for a total of 21 points out of a possible 84.