Andy O’Brien

Players and fans alike could be forgiven for keeping an eye firmly fixed on the principal aim of returning to the Premier League, but seasoned Leeds followers will know the famous old domestic cup competition evokes fond memories (10/3 Leeds – npower Championship Promotion 2010/11).

The Whites took the prize scalp of cross-Pennines rivals Manchester United last season and held Tottenham to a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane before finally bowing out at the hands of the north Londoners.

This time around they have the chance to send Tottenham’s capital rivals out of the FA Cup in front of what is again expected to be a white-hot atmosphere in West Yorkshire.

Arsene Wenger’s Premier League title-chasers needed a dramatic late penalty from captain and talisman Cesc Fabregas to spare their blushes at Emirates Stadium and O’Brien has warned the Gunners they can expect more of the same.

O’Brien said: “I don’t think we have missed our chance. To a certain extent, the Cup games take care of themselves. We were the underdogs but now we are playing at home with a massive support behind us.”

The winners tomorrow will be at home to in-form League One promotion-hopefuls Huddersfield Town in the fourth round, and O’Brien added: “I don’t think an FA Cup run is a hindrance. As a professional footballer, you want to stay in as many competitions as possible for as long as possible and if we’ve got a lot of games it means we are doing something right.”

Grayson added: “We have got to be underdogs because Arsenal have some fantastic players. We will look to try and get through and we will go out with the attitude that we can win it and give them a tough night, but we have to be aware of what Arsenal can do because they are a fantastic team.”

Leeds won their most important FA meeting with Arsenal in 1972 when a diving header by Allan Clarke from a Mick Jones cross was the only goal of the centenary final at Wembley.

However, Arsene Wenger has never experienced third-round defeat during his Arsenal managerial career and it is difficult to ancticipate the Gunners flopping (6/1 Arsenal – FA Cup outright).

Defender Sebastien Squillaci (hamstring), midfielder Abou Diaby (calf), goalkeeper Manuel Almunia (ankle) and centre-back Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) remain on the sidelines, so Wenger will have to shuffle his pack.

Leeds are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions at Elland Road so the advice here is to take the 4/6 on both teams to score and cover yourself with the 2-1 (7/1) and 3-1 (10/1) Arsenal win correct scores.

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Liverpool

The Reds may have come away from Old Trafford with nothing to show for their efforts following the 3-2 defeat, but the England midfielder is confident progress is being made under boss Roy Hodgson, who was only appointed in the summer.

A big piece of Hodgson’s summer transfer dealings was keeping Gerrard and star striker Fernando Torres out of the clutches of rival clubs, and the former Fulham chief was rewarded as Gerrard weighed in with a brace which included a penalty at the weekend.

Although naturally disappointed to go down at United, Gerrard was upbeat on Monday morning over the Merseysiders’ chances for the rest of the campaign.

He said: “It is going to take time before the new manager gets his feet in the door and gets his ideas over.

“We are improving and the performance yesterday was very good.

“If we play like that most weeks we will beat most teams in the league.”

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov’s first hat-trick for the club ultimately proved the difference between the two sides, but it still did not stop Gerrard from stressing what he thought were the positives.

“We kept the ball away from them and I thought we passed it really well; of course we had to be edgy in the first half because we were away from home,” said Gerrard.

“I thought second half we were much more positive and played some terrific stuff but you get nothing for that.

“When you go to places like that you have to create chances from your possession and score goals.

“We scored two but it was not enough.”

One of the main talking points post-match was the form of Berbatov after he stole the limelight with possibly his best game in a United shirt.

But talk also centred on the out-of-form Torres who has found himself accused of cheating following a tussle with United utility man John O’Shea which saw the Irishman booked.

Sir Alex Ferguson commented: “I have watched it again. Fernando Torres made a meal of it, an absolute meal of it. There is no doubt he tried to get the player sent off.”

United (11/2 – Carling Cup Outright) are back in action on Wednesday when they make the trip to Scunthorpe for a Carling Cup third-round clash while Liverpool (15/2) entertain Northampton.

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Steven Gerrard

Having gone to South Africa as one of the tournament favourites, the Three Lions failed to live up to expectations and crashed out to Germany in the second round.

Capello has made radical changes to the squad for this week’s friendly against Hungary (England 2/7, Draw 4/1, Hungary 11/1 – Match Betting), with a whole host of new faces and younger players being given their chance.

The squad has already seen a number of withdrawals though, with Wes Brown and Paul Robinson announcing their international retirements. This has again put the manager’s position under question.

Responding to the duo’s decisions, Capello stated: “You have to accept what they want to do. I think it’s an honour to be with the national team and to play for England.”

Despite these setbacks, skipper Gerrard believes the Italian still remains the right man for the job and that the players in the squad remain determined to be successful with the national team.

The Liverpool midfielder said: “He (Capello) is a fantastic manager and I still have the utmost confidence in him.”

Gerrard (11/8 to score at anytime v Hungary) accepts that England are likely to be given a ‘mixed reception’ by the home fans on Wednesday, admitting that he would boo the players if he was sat in the stands as a fan.

He added: “We have to take it on the chin. We deserve it. We let them down in the summer.”

Meanwhile, Sunderland striker Darren Bent (20/1 to be 2010/2011 Premier League Top Goalscorer) has pulled out of the squad to face Hungary at Wembley due to injury.

Bent, who missed out on a place at the World Cup, is struggling with a back problem, which forced him to sit out Monday’s training session.

The 26-year-old’s absence means Wayne Rooney is now likely to be partnered by either Carlton Cole of West Ham or Fulham’s Bobby Zamora.

Bent, who scored 24 Premier League goals last season, has been sent back to his club and is a doubt for Sunderland’s opening game with Birmingham on Saturday.

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The current European champions were the favourites coming into the World Cup but have so far failed to shine in their first three matches.

Switzerland caused a huge upset when they beat Spain 1-0 in the first match and, while Vincente del Bosque’s men went on to win their next two, they look a pale shadow of the side that romped to European Championship victory two years ago.

Portugal will be hopeful of taking full advantage of Spain’s recent downturn in form when the two sides meet in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Carlos Queiroz’s side squeaked through the group stages thanks in part to an emphatic win over North Korea.

While the 7-0 victory helped boost their goal difference it was in fact two solid defensive displays that made the difference as they drew 0-0 with the Ivory Coast and Brazil.

Portugal are now unbeaten in their last 16 matches and will prove a tough nut for Spain to crack on Tuesday.

The Spanish struggled against Switzerland, who were resolute at the back as they ground out a 1-0.

Portugal (10/3 to beat Spain) might offer a similar challenge and having seen their neighbours already lose once at this World Cup Simao is confident they can inflict a second defeat on the Euro 2008 winners.

“They’re one of the best teams in the world,” said Simao.

“They have a style of play like Barcelona, with lots of players from Barca, who play with two or three touches of the ball.

“But it’s 50-50. Without showing them a lack of respect, we’re not scared at all. We’ve got a great team too. And to become better, we have to beat Spain. They’re champions of Europe, but we have our own qualities.”

Simao claims that Portugal’s performances in the ‘group of death’ have given them a lot of confidence after they just made it to South Africa.

“We’re strong as well and I think we’ll give them at least as many problems. Instead of talking about Spain all the time, we need to focus on ourselves,” he added.

Portugal’s qualifying campaign left a lot to the imagination as they were forced to come through a play-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

While they look to be a long way off the Portugal side who reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup their defensive displays will have given them hope of progressing.

The winner in Cape Town will face either Japan or Paraguay (11/10 to beat Japan) in the quarter-finals and whoever they face either Portugal or Spain will certainly fancy their chances of getting through to the semi-finals.

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