Five reasons why Arsenal will get some revenge on Burnley

Arsenal/Burnley, Sunday 1.30pm, Setanta Sports 1, Best Odds

Everyone was starting to believe that Arsenal’s youngsters were invincible and destined for Carling Cup glory until they went to Burnley and got knocked off their perch in December. Now Arsene Wenger is ready to use his big name players to gain revenge as Arsenal look to record consecutive wins for the first time since mid-January.

1. Arsenal have won eight of their nine home cup games this season and have conceded just one goal over the course of those games.

2. The Gunners haven’t lost a home FA Cup match for over twelve years, with their last defeat coming against Leeds in February 1997. They have hosted 28 games in the competition since.

3. Despite underperforming at the Emirates recently, Arsenal are brilliant when welcoming opposition from the North West. They have won five and drawn one of their six to date.

Posted: March 5th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Will Grayson drop down a division to manage Leeds?

Blackpool boss is 1/20 with Sky Bet to succeed McAllister

When chickendinner were informed that Gary McAllister had been sacked as Leeds manager yesterday, the name Gus Poyet immediately sprung to mind as to who was most likely to succeed him. However, while the former Elland Road number two was the initial frontrunner, he has been overtaken in the betting by Blackpool boss Simon Grayson, who is now 1/20 with Sky Bet.

If Grayson took the job it would mean stepping down a league after taking Blackpool into the Championship two seasons ago, where they now lie 16th. chickendinner could think of plenty of players who have stepped down a league or two in an attempt to prolong their carrers - Chris Coleman, Lee Carsley and Kevin Phillips for example - but it’s not so common for managers to make such a move.

Posted: December 22nd, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment