Good day everyone,

I hope you are all well and having a great week after the FA Cup weekend, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things sports. Today we will be looking at the recent games in the Carabao Cup Semi-Final, and the two rearranged Premier League fixtures. The matches took place on Wednesday and Thursday in the Cup, and Tuesday and Wednesday in the league, producing some thrilling encounters. If you would like to read my preview on the league games you can find it here: Premier League Postponed Games while you can find my review on the previous Semi-Final in the Carabao Cup here: Carabao Cup Semi-Final First Leg

Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg

Wednesday 12th Jan 2022

Previous Result: Tottenham 0-2 Chelsea

Result: Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham (3-0 aggerate score)

Line Ups:

Chelsea: 4-2-4

(GK) Kepa, (LB) Sarr, (RB) Azpilicueta, (CB) Christensen, (CB) Rudiger, (CM) Jorginho, (CM) Kovacic, (LW) Hudson-Odoi , (RW) Mount, (CF) Lukaku, (CF) Werner

Tottenham: 3-5-2

(GK) Gollini, (LWB) Doherty, (RWB) Emmerson Royal, (CB) Davies, (CB) Sanchez, (CB) Tanganga, (CM) Le Celso, (CM) Winks, (CM) Hojbjerg, (CF) Kane, (CF) Moura

Goal Scorers:  - Rudiger

This game certainly did not match the same high frantic levels as the previous encounter between these two, with Rudiger meeting Mason Mount's corner with a sublime header in the eighteenth minute to put the game beyond any doubt. Spurs battled on and thought they had a penalty in the fortieth minute after the referee pointed to the spot, but was overruled as a foul from Rudiger to bring down Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg outside the box and they only got a free-kick in the end which didn't trouble the Chelsea keeper. Around the hour mark VAR again ruled against a Spurs penalty after the review showed Kepa clearly got the ball and it wasn't a foul on Moura. Five minutes later Kane had the ball in the back of the net but again VAR intervened and ruled it as offside. Chelsea were the more dominant side, especially in the first half, and while Tottenham had their chances it was not to be their day. Spurs may feel harshly done by VAR but thats what it is there for. Chelsea will be delighted to reach the final, while Spurs must continue their 14-year wait for a piece of silverware. Chelsea will face the winners of the Liverpool vs Arsenal semi final at Wembley in the final on Sunday, the 27th of February 2022.

Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg

Thursday 13th Jan 2022

Result: Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal

Line Ups:

Liverpool: 4-3-3

(GK) Allison, (LB) Robertson, (RB) Alexander-Arnold, (CB) Van Djik, (CB) Matip, (CM) Fabinho, (CM) Milner, (CM) Henderson, (LW) Jota, (RW) Minamino, (CF) Firmio

Arsenal: 4-2-3-1

(GK) Ramsdale, (LB) Tierney, (RB) Soares, (CB) White, (CB) Magalhaes, (CM) Xhaka, (CM) Sambi-Lokonga, (AM) Lacazette, (LW) Martinelli, (RW) Saka, (CF) Nketiah

Goal Scorers:  

After the first leg got postponed last week thanks to the Covid-19 false positive results at Liverpool, the game at Anfield became the first leg instead of the second. It It was telling that's two of Liverpool's usual starting front three were absent, as an underwhelming Liverpool side could not break down ten men Arsenal who put in an excellent defensive display. Xhaka got his marching orders after 24 minutes when he caught Jota with a high boot in a reckless challenge. Liverpool had the best chance of the game at the end of the second half when Ramsdale was caught in no mans land and the ball fell to Minamino. He tried to volley the ball as it dropped but instead of hitting the empty net he skied it into the Kop. Both Minamino and Firmino struggled to get into the game and Ramsdale was rarely tested in the Arsenal goal. The best chance for the Gunnars came on 72 minutes when Lacazette and Tierney combined to get Saka through but Allison reacted quickly to deny him. The second leg will be played on Thursday the 20th of January to decide who joins Chelsea at Wembley on the 27th of February 2022.

Premier League

So in terms of the predicted scores, I am happy to say I got 1/2 correct scores during this week of rearranged games. In terms of match-winner/loser, I managed to predict both winners correctly.

Predicted: Southampton 2-1 Brentford

Result: Southampton 4-1 Brentford

Bednarek, Fernandez, Broja, Adams - Janelt

This game certainly lived up to being a thrilling encounter, with The Saints showing a lethal touch in front of their new owner Dragan Solak. Within five minutes they were ahead as Bednarek nodded home a Ward-Prowse corner at the near post. The Bees managed to pull level with their first strike on goal, as Janelt volleyed a Mbeumo cross into the back of Fosters net. With eight minutes left until half time, Bees goalkeeper Fernandez scored an unfortunate own goal as Diallo's low shot rebounded off the bar and into the net off the keeper. Southampton continued their good work and scored again early in the second half, as Broja broke from halfway and finished beautiful to make it three. Late in the game substitute Adams made it four when he lofted the ball past Fernandez into the goal. This was the first time this season Southampton scored four in a game, in a game where manager Hasenhuttl described it as a don't give up attitude. Brentford will be disappointed at having lost, especially going behind so early. Southampton are the best this season at scoring in the opening five minutes, having done so four times already this campaign. The win moves Southampton a point above Brentford, with both having played 20 of the 21 match days so far. The Bees are still twelves points clear of relegation and will be happy with their season so far, but as Thomas Frank put it, his side need to put 100% into their performances.

Predicted: West Ham 2-0 Norwich

Result: West Ham 2-0 Norwich

Bowen x2

The Hammers were at their fine best and inspired by Bowen as they beat The Canaries. The 25 year dominated this game, having a goal disallowed before he finally penetrated the Norwich defence before half time. Vladimir Coufal sent in a delicious cross which Bowen nodded in ahead of Norwich defender Gibson. He added his second with seven minutes remaining in the game, meeting Arthur Masuaku's low cross and getting his goal after a VAR review. Bowen had many chances throughout the game, hitting the woodwork on two separate occasions, with the better coming from Norwich giving away possession. Lanzini controlled the ball and passed to Fornals who played in Bowen. The Englishman dinked it over Krul in the Norwich goal but the ball grazed the top of the crossbar. Norwich had their own chances, and their best chance fell to Adam Idah. He skipped thorugh the West Ham defence but his effort was denied as Lukasz Fabianski palmed the ball onto the post. This wast Dean Smith's sides sixth straight league defeat, and they have not scored a solitary goal in all those games. After a run of one win in seven, West Ham have won their last three games and moved back into fourth position in the table. The Canaries meanwhile stay bottom of the table having scored only eight league goals all season. After this match only West Ham, Man City, and Chelsea have played all 21 fixtures so far, meaning none of those teams will face the prospect of a fixture pileup later in the season barring any further postponements due to Covid-19.

I hope you found some enjoyment in my post and managed to see the matches. We have the league action returning on Friday night after last weekends FA Cup third round matches.

Have a great week.

Peace. CryptoGod-1.

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