The form side of the Football League continue their run

Five stats about last night’s Football League action

1. While Wolves, Leicester and Wycombe, the teams who led the three divisions at Christmas, have all endured blips since, the team with the best form in the Football League were bottom of the Championship on December 25. Doncaster won just four of their first 24 games in the division but since Yuletide have won seven and drawn one of their eight league games. That run has seen them climb to 15th, where they are eight points clear of the relegation zone.

2. Of course Leicester’s blip has been very minor, with the Foxes still sixteen points clear of Peterborough in third despite three successive draws. Nigel Pearson’s side endured a trio of ties earlier this season before losing away to Brighton which bodes well for in-form Bristol Rovers, who the league leaders visit on Saturday.

Posted: February 18th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Watford 4/1 to complete a Championship hat-trick in tonight’s family showdown

Watford/Tottenham, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1, Best Odds, Free Bets

Brother-in-law meets brother-in-law tonight at Vicarage Road as former West Ham management duo Harry Redknapp and Frank Lampard Snr find themselves on opposite sides of the dugout. Last season’s Carling Cup winners Tottenham are the favourites but Watford have already taken one Premier League side out of the competition this season:

PREMIER LEAGUE 0 CHAMPIONSHIP 2
The first two Carling Cup quarter-finals saw Championship sides Burnley and Derby overcome Arsenal and Stoke. With Blackburn and Manchester United facing off in the other last eight clash there is definitely going to be one Premier League representative in the final four but will Watford win to replicate last season’s FA Cup, where three of the four semi-finalists were from the second tier?

QUARTER-FINAL RECORDS
Since 2002, Watford have won all three quarter-finals that they have participated in. Even more significantly, those campaigns - FA Cup 2002-03, Carling Cup 2004-05, FA Cup 2006-07 - have been on a two-year rotation system, meaning that they are due to reach the Carling Cup semi-finals in 2008-09. In comparison, Tottenham have lost six of their eight over that time, including two in the Carling Cup. In 2004-05 Harry Redknapp took Portsmouth to the quarter-finals where they were beaten 3-0 away to Watford, although he had resigned six days prior to the fixture.

Posted: December 3rd, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment