FA Cup round four: James Maddison’s return to Tottenham might cause problems for Manchester City; Chelsea hopes to make it to Wembley twice.
Liverpool and Chelsea are scheduled for this week’s Carabao Cup final. It will be a rematch of their Wembley match from 2022, which the Reds won thanks to penalties. They performed identically in the FA Cup final at the conclusion of that campaign, and both teams want to compete all the way again in the current competition.
If Mauricio Pochettino wants to get this Chelsea enterprise off in a significant way, any kind of cup win seems practically necessary. Even if their patchy performance in the Premier League seems certain to result in another lackluster season, winning a trophy would give his youthful team something to aim for.
But come Friday night, they have a far stronger opponent than the Middlesbrough club they defeated in midweek. This season, Villa has already triumphed at the Bridge and has only lost twice in their previous 21 encounters in all competitions. With the tactical expertise of cup specialist Unai Emery added, it is evident that Chelsea has a formidable battle in trying to sustain their cup run momentum, making this a potentially crucial week.
Will Maddison’s comeback carry on Man City’s awful performance against Spurs?
Man City may just be playing Ange Postecoglou’s team at the wrong moment when they travel south on Friday. Manchester City has lost and failed to score in each of its five trips to Tottenham’s new stadium.
This is due to James Maddison’s return to Tottenham following a three-month injury layoff. Spurs were undefeated at the top of the Premier League before his ankle injury, and his setback caused back-to-back losses before they dropped out of the top four.
Prior to his injury, Maddison was the Premier League’s most inventive player. Despite missing the previous three months of action, he still leads all Premier League players with over 800 minutes played in terms of chances created per ninety minutes.
Spurs under Postecoglou don’t really need a creative boost; they’ve only lost once in their past seven games and had 16 shots in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
But Maddison may be the catalyst Spurs need to go back into the top four and pursue further trophies while players like Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson fail to find the net.
