Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti and Aston Villa’s Martin O’Neill face very different selection problems ahead of their teams’ meeting in the FA Cup semifinals today.
O’Neill is hoping central defender Richard Dunne and midfield lynchpin James Milner recover from Achilles’ problems to play at Wembley, while Ancelotti has too many in-form players to fit into Chelsea’s attack.
With leading scorer Didier Drogba set to start up front, Ancelotti has Joe Cole, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda all available for the two wide positions.
Premier League leader Chelsea beat Villa 7-1 two weeks ago, and that was with first-choice central defender Dunne in Villa’s lineup.
That result severely dented the Midlanders’ chances of qualifying for European competition and improved Chelsea’s goal difference in the fight with Manchester United and Arsenal for the Premier League title, but Ancelotti is taking nothing for granted.
“Martin O’Neill is a very good psychologist and a very good coach and they will play differently,” Ancelotti said. “We must forget that last game. We played very well but Saturday will be different.”
Villa only trailed 2-1 at halftime at Stamford Bridge following a 44th-minute penalty and the score was skewed by four goals in the last 28 minutes as the visitors tired.
“We conceded a couple of poor goals in the last half-hour of the game when it was effectively over,” O’Neill said. “It put a damning light on things.”
Dunne pulled out of training Thursday but Milner should start after he was rested for last weekend’s 1-0 win at Bolton.
“He feels a lot better and that is very encouraging,” O’Neill said. “It was last week that he was feeling a bit sore so we thought we would rest him up for the game at the Reebok Stadium.”
The Villa players have already lost one final this season and are anxious to make it to another and win the club’s first trophy since 1996.
Villa led Manchester United in February’s League Cup final before losing 2-1.
“The FA Cup itself has enough magic attached to it that to be contesting the semifinal, with the chance of getting to Wembley for the third time in the season, is incentive enough for us,” O’Neill said.
While Villa is struggling with injuries, however, Chelsea has already shown how it can play without key players.
Drogba, who scored in last year’s 2-1 final win over Everton and has 31 goals this season, was left on the bench for the team’s Premier League meeting, but Frank Lampard struck four goals and Malouda added two.
Tottenham and Portsmouth meet in the second semifinal tomorrow, with Portsmouth hoping to set up a shot at becoming the first club to win the cup and get relegated in the same season.
Middlesbrough reached the final in 1997 when it was demoted and, like Portsmouth, went down partly because of a points deduction.
Pompey is bottom of the Premier League and on the verge of relegation after its financial problems incurred the deduction of nine points.
Portsmouth’s 2008 FA Cup title was its first in 58 years and anticipated by only the most optimistic fans. A repeat would be near miraculous after the small south coast club sold most of its top players in an attempt to pay off huge debts.
With Portsmouth having lost twice to Spurs this season before being hit by its current rash of injuries and suspensions, Tottenham’s biggest problem as it aims for a first FA Cup final since 1991 may be complacency.
Tottenham could be lifted by the return of winger Aaron Lennon from more than three months out injured. He returned to training this week.
In the Premier League on Saturday, Hull hosts Burnley and West Ham hosts Sunderland.
Tomorrow, Manchester United will again be without the injured Wayne Rooney as it tried to retake top spot with victory at Blackburn, while Liverpool hosts Fulham, Manchester City hosts Birmingham and Wolverhampton Wanderers hosts Stoke.
West Bromwich Albion can join Newcastle in clinching promotion to the Premier League if it wins at Doncaster in the League Championship today.
It would be the second-place Baggies’ fourth promotion in nine years.
MEXICAN PLAYER
Manchester United is set to sign its first Mexican player after agreeing to take striker Javier Hernandez from Chivas for next season.
United said on Thursday the Mexico international has passed a medical examination and will join for an undisclosed fee. The 21-year-old Hernandez will become a United player on July 1 if he is granted a work permit from the British government.
“I feel like I am living a dream,” Hernandez said. “All the impressions I have of the club are good and [manager] Sir Alex Ferguson is a great person, maybe the best coach in the world.”
Since making his Chivas debut in September 2006, Hernandez has scored 26 goals. He has four in four games for Mexico — two against Bolivia, and one each against North Korea and New Zealand.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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