The Capital One Cup is seemingly Chelsea’s for the taking but Bradford City and Aston Villa clash in tonight’s first semi-final first leg and I have to be opposing the Premier League side.
The London club are expected to advance to the final at the expense of Swansea, that pair first meet tomorrow, and while I anticipate the Blues will ultimately face the Villains at Wembley it might not be straightforward for Paul Lambert’s side.
Bradford, who so famously disposed of a full strength Arsenal in the last eight, play host at Valley Parade on Tuesday night and manager Phil Parkinson must be eyeing an advantage after tonight’s 90 minutes if they are to have a realistic chance of progressing.
It is a terrific opportunity for both these sides to contest the showpiece at the famous stadium and you have to assume that Aston Villa would be more than happy to emerge from tonight unscathed before hopefully making home advantage count.
It has been an extremely troublesome season for Paul Lambert and his Villa players and while a 3-1 win at Liverpool before Christmas hinted at a revival they have been generally atrocious since.
Humiliated 8-0 against potential final opponents Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, that loss followed by equally humbling defeats on home soil against Tottenham and Wigan, conceding seven more times without scoring, and Lambert must have looked on in horror.
Villa are without any notable experience and while I respect they scored four times at both Manchester City and Norwich in this competition this season, somehow, I am taking them on once more.
While Villa struggled past Ipswich in the FA Cup on Saturday, forgotten striker Darren Bent on target, Bradford were losing in League Two.
A 2-0 defeat Barnet in English football’s fourth-tier wouldn’t usually inspire much confidence but of course the Bantams had more than one eye on this upcoming clash and that reversal is easily forgiven.
It is just four home defeats in 13 months at Valley Parade for Bradford, over a run of 32 matches, and as well as that defeat of the Gunners they also knocked out Premier League Wigan on penalties in the last 16.
2pts Lay Aston Villa (vs. Bradford) @ 1.87 (Betfair)