Road To Wembley – 5th Round – Southampton vs Portsmouth

Since November I’ve been following a team in the FA Cup all the way from the 1st round to the final in May. As luck would have it I’ve only had to focus on two teams thus far thanks to some impressive results. I completely forgot to do a 4th round preview (which would also have had a 3rd round review) so it’s time for a little recap.

Four games from Wembley (three if you count the semi finals).

We started off following Conference side Luton Town who faced League Two side Rochdale in the first round. After a victory in the replay, Luton went on to beat another League Two team in the second round – Rotherham. So far, so impressive.

The third round saw them face League One Southampton but the extra step in class was too much, Southampton winning 1-0. By all accounts it was a close game but that extra bit of quality told in the end. Southampton’s reward in the fourth round was a home game against Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town, again a game which would have been in the top flight not so long ago.

Southampton's top scorer.

As it happens they both played Championship football in 2008/09 but Southampton’s administration and subsequent relegation put paid to that to this season. Perhaps it was the fact they took four points from Ipswich in 08/09 or maybe it was just the magic of the cup but either way the match ended with a 2-1 victory to Southampton.

Defender Wayne Thomas scored a peach of a goal to give Southampton the lead and they wrapped it up in the second half with a strike from Antonio, before Counago got a late Ipswich consolation. With the victory Southampton become the only remaining League One side in the competition (I think Nott’s County are the only other lower league side left).

So we’re up to date at last and to make things interesting Southampton have a cracking opponent this weekend – their arch-rivals Portsmouth. I’m kind of glad the focus is on the home team here as I’d be writing all night if I was looking at Pompey’s recent history.

Predicted teams from the Guardian.

Having gone through administration, Southampton are now stable again, albeit in mid-table in League One. They have a new owner in Markus Liebherr and I read somewhere that when he took over it was one of the few instances where creditors got all their money back, which is nice of him.

Portsmouth on the other hand are about a week away from going bust at any given stage and have had more owners this season then a pyramid timeshare scheme run by Bernie Madoff. As it stands, they exist and the TV money this game brings in will help something or other no doubt.

Portsmouth's next owner?

In many ways the cup has been a nice distraction for Portsmouth, as they’ve put aside their awful league form to despatch first Coventry and then Sunderland to reach this stage. They haven’t won in the league this year so the occasional cup win is probably keeping spirits up.

Though Southampton are two levels below Portsmouth these days, they’ve never lost to them in four FA Cup meetings and are unbeaten at St. Mary’s the last five times the sides have met. That said, Pompey bashed them 4-1 at Fratton Park in the last match (though it was five years ago now).

Here’s what Lawro thinks:

Everybody knows there is absolutely no love lost between these two. For Portsmouth, with all their financial problems, to get another game out of this tie would be more use to them than to Southampton.

Verdict: 2-2

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Thanks Lawro, I’d advise to bet on anything but that result. I love how there’s no analysis just a random prediction. Though judging how he’s kicking the Sportboys’ arse in our predictions battle maybe you should put a cheeky tenner at 15-1 on it! If you’re into online betting those are pretty good odds.

Smiley man.

Personally I think Southampton might be in luck. They have a new-born baby on their side (random story I know), there’s no better time to play Portsmouth and the fact that the Premier League side are only very slight favourites suggests this will be a close one. Alan Pardew has tended to play decent football as a manager and I’ll back them to win 2-1. If I can bothered I may even do a minute by minute on it tomorrow lunchtime. On second thoughts maybe not.

Grumpy man.

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T.

Road to Wembley – 3rd Round – Southampton vs Luton

It’s the FA Cup 3rd round today, a time when fans can start dreaming of a day out at Wembley in May. We’ve already had two rounds out of the way of course, but today the big boys from the Championship and Premier League join the party and the focus is purely on the cup. Back in November we chose a team to follow and that team has managed to make it this far without being knocked out.

Up for the cup.

In the last round I was unsure whether Luton could repeat their 1st round success of knocking out a League Two team but they once again pulled off a bit of a shock and beat Rotherham in a replay. The first game had seen a 2-2 draw before Luton convincingly won the rematch at Kenilworth Road 3-0. Adam Newton set them on their way in the seventh minute and further goals from Alan White and Claude Gnakpa earned the Hatters a lucrative third round tie.

Their reward for progress is an altogether stiffer test. Having dealt with the best League Two has to offer, they now find themselves with an away game at League One side Southampton. Much like Luton, Southampton have had their fair share of financial problems in recent times and points deductions have seen them slip down to League One, where they currently occupy a mid-table position. The financial issues came despite selling plenty of good young players like Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale.

Back when he couldn't grow sideburns

The two teams would have both been meeting in the top flight as recently as 1992 but the last match between them came in the Championship four seasons ago in 2007. Looking through Southampton’s current squad they have plenty of recognisable players. Club captain is goalkeeper Kelvin Davis who had a shocking season between the sticks for Sunderland in 2005/06 – he also played for Luton between 1995-99.

Played for both teams.

Ex-Reading captain Graeme Murty is there, as is ex-Spurs defender Chris Perry. Well travelled striker David Connolly is now at St.Mary’s as is Radhi Jaïdi and Polish striker Marek Saganowski. All in all some experienced pros to complement key players like Rickie Lambert, who has banged in 17 league goals this season, and Adam Lallana who has nine.

Every round I keep saying Luton will do well to get through, and both times so far they’ve surprised me. Southampton’s recent form is a bit patchy with two defeats in the last three but they’ve been beaten just twice at home in the league. As mentioned, Southampton have some familiar names but they’ll expect the aforementioned Lambert and Lallana to get the goals to see them through.

Looks a bit like Matthew Wright. A bit.

Luton have lost just once in the last ten but new striker Matthew Barnes-Homer is cup-tied. They’ll once again hope that the likes of Kevin Gallen and Tom Craddock can inspire them to another cup shock.

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T.

Road To Wembley – 2nd Round – Rotherham vs Luton

This weekend sees the 2nd round of the FA Cup take place and it turns out that we will be following Luton after their victory in the last round versus Rochdale. The first game at Kenilworth Road saw Luton goe 3-0 up in just half an hour as they looked to impress new manager Richard Monley. Rochdale’s higher league status soon told though as they managed to claw it back with two Joe Thompson goals in the last three minutes. Final score Luton 3 – Rochdale 3. Heartbreak for Luton, but they lived to fight another day in the replay.

The replay was actually shown on TV and I managed to catch some of it. Rochdale were controlling the game but not really creating any clear-cut chances. Luton were happy to go into the break at 0-0. I got a bit bored truth be told and didn’t bother watching the second half but I later saw that Kevin Gallen, who was the main subject of the 1st round preview, went and scored twice to give Luton an excellent 2-0 victory.

I'm happy as I knocked out Rochdale.

In the 2nd round Luton will face Rotherham away, another team flying high in League Two. Rotherham did the double over Luton last season and got to this stage by beating non-league Wealdston 3-2 away from home. Since their replay Luton have had beaten Grays Athletic 2-0, drawn with Cambridge 2-2 (throwing away a 2-0 lead) before having a game with Mansfield the other day postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. If nothing they should be well rested having not played since last weekend.

Adam Le Fondre.

Rotherham lie third in League Two and are unbeaten at home this season. They’ve let in just three goals at the Don Valley athletics stadium (their temporary home), while in striker Adam Le Fondre, they have a player Luton should fear, given he has already scored 13 times this season.

Fortress Rotherham.

This looks like an altogther tougher task for Luton even though Rotherham are roughly on the same ability level as Rochdale. It remains to be seen whether Richard Money can keep his unbeaten start to life as Luton manager, and I’m sure he will be playing for a draw to take Rotherham back to Kenilworth Road. Once again a lot will depend on Kevin Gallen up front, who has the ability to cause problems for League Two defence. Luton will also have some more options in the squad as they have recently signed ex Man Utd keeper Kevin Pilkington on loan (who has gone straight into the 1st team) and a striker named Mark Nwokeji.

I can’t see Luton winning again but good luck to them this weekend.

T.