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Clarets Mad - The Magic of the FA Cup!
Clarets v City - Quarter-Finals FA Cup - Match Preview.
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Etihad Campus, Manchester M11 3FF.
Kick-off – 17.45 – Saturday, 18th March 2023.
If ever a FA Cup game could capture the imagination of football fans anywhere then surely this is the one. Ex-City captain Vincent Kompany returns to the Etihad for the first time as an opposing manager when Manchester City entertain the runaway leaders of the Championship on the back of a 7-0 mauling of RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Burnley will arrive at the Etihad following their Wednesday night 3-1 victory over Hull City. All sorts of distracting sideshows are on display on Saturday tea-time, Gary Lineker is back on Match of the Day commentary duty following an altercation with the BBC hierarchy over an alleged ill-judged tweet.
Intriguingly, Vincent Kompany goes head-to-head with his managerial mentor Pep Guardiola for his first time in the opposing manager’s dug out in east Manchester. Erling Haaland and Nathan Tella also go head-to-head in the goal scoring stakes, both claiming the match ball for their mid-week hat-trick heroics.
For Burnley fans this FA Cup game provides the perfect opportunity to gauge just how well or badly their team could fare in next season’s EPL challenges, considering that promotion from the second tier is now almost virtually secured for the Clarets. I’m sure Kompany and his assistant and former City star Craig Bellamy will be looking at the game in the same way.
Have Burnley any chance of winning this game? I remember attending the 1973 Charity Shield game when newly promoted Burnley were given the chance to take on Manchester City at Maine Road and the Clarets were given little or no hope of beating the mercurial Blues. A single Colin Waldron headed goal won the day for the Clarets on that warm Manchester Saturday afternoon, I’m hoping for a history making repeat on a winter’s evening at the Etihad.
7,500 travelling fans will be in attendance to cheer the Clarets on but having just watched the Champions League highlights, where a top tier German team were annihilated by Guardiola’s merciless Manchester mercenaries, I shall attend the game with a view to simply enjoy an evening watching Kompany’s Clarets and see where the game takes us.
One’s to watch: It is difficult to know where to start with Manchester City who are armed with a legion of global footballing superstars. Haaland is breaking goalscoring records for fun, Grealish, Foden and Stones are England mainstays, but the Clarets have players at their disposal to offer the Burnley faithful at least a semblance of hope of snatching a major FA Cup upset.
Nine**** Burnley players have been recorded on the Clarets goalscoring list in this season’s campaign and it may be an old soccer cliché, but Kompany’s team might only need one more to upset Guardiola’s elite outfit. Tella, Zaroury, Benson and Barnes are the ones to watch for Kompany’s Clarets.
Verdict: We can all dream of a Burnley surprise FA Cup result, but the reality is that this City team are now installed as favourites by the bookmakers to win the Champions League. I’ll go with the bookies and hope for at the very least an honourable Burnley display and narrow defeat.
Footnote: Forgive me for a little bit of self-indulgence on this topic but I was bitten by the “Burnley bug” at a very young age. I was only eight years old when relatives on my father’s side sneaked me into Maine Road to witness the Clarets win the old First Division title in the 1959-60 with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City. I’ve lived with this wonderfully happy memory for almost 70 years, I would love to add a repeat win on Saturday to add to the old memory box.
An opinion and post from The Editor’s Chair – Clarets Mad.
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Great preview BT. There is always hope in the Cup.
City are not invincible. An early goal for us will rattle them a touch. They play the possession game so we will both be battling to control the ball.
A good test for our young team. I hope that we win, but if not, that we give a good account of ourselves. We can only ask them to play their best.
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Have Burnley any chance of winning this game?
sure can....because - City can lose, and as VK has his own pedestal at the Etihad, am sure they won't want to see him suffer, not that much...but if he's been holding back the goalscorers, allowing Tella the limelight, when he sets them free, they'll go full alien, and City won't know whats hit them.
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Come on lads,let's get realistic and not get silly.I'm afraid that City will pump us by 3/4 goals at least..Still,we will earn some decent money out of it to help sort out the accounts.
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A rough estimate Alfie is a million quid or so will swell our coffers. Not to be sniffed at!Originally Posted by alfinyalcabo
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Looked in on the Bluemoon forum - Alf.....the love for "Vinny" is palpable, and plenty talk of who to rest/rotate mixed with...take no risk, go full strength vs VK's tabletopping Burnley with something to prove, there's certainly an air of uncertainty among the support.
Can't outplay them with football, so he'll have to change tack, be surprised if didn't, be interesting.
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Looking forward to the game whatever the score Norder. Will be interesting to see Vinnys side as well.Will he play Muric or keep faith with regular Cup goalie..?
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good question - Alf.....he played around for the other cup games, but this is City in a quarter final....with a two week break before the next league match, where other than a complete collapse, promotion is a certainty - so strongest team runs out I'd imagine, or maybe he holds a few aces back.
Last edited by Norder; 16-03-2023 at 11:50 PM.
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I don't think he will rub BPF's nose in the $hit, I think he will give the lad his big day on the Clarets biggest match of the year.
I must say though how impressed I am with Muric's progress, like sinkov says give our goalkeeping coach a raise because he deserves it.
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VK on the BBC...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/footb...pkztrTZZIBs7vM
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