UP FOR THE CUP?
While the set-to between West Ham and Arsenal at the London Stadium may not be the most eye-catching of tonight’s Rumbelows Cup fixtures, it may well be the most poignant as misty-eyed supporters of one side get to watch a former club legend in action against the team he once represented with such distinction for the first time since his departure. Of course that all depends on whether or not David Moyes picks Konstantinos Mavropanos to start in defence, but the omens look good as the fourth round of England’s fifth most prestigious competition after the Premier League, FA Cup and both transfer windows looks the ideal opportunity to give the big Greek fringe player a run-out.
With far bigger fish to fry, Mikel Arteta seems less likely to pick Declan Rice, who will almost certainly start on the away team’s bench. On SHOUTsport this morning, West Ham fans were invited to call in to explain whether or not they’d be booing the first captain to lift silverware for the club upon his return, in the kind of phone-in that helps pass the time when presenters have three hours to fill, have already exhausted the topic of Saudi Arabia almost definitely getting the 2034 World Cup and there’s not much else going on. “I would say so,” said Arteta upon being asked if he thinks Rice will get a good reception. “I hope so. Especially, every time you hear him talk about West Ham and what they did for him and everybody at the club, he cannot talk any higher, so hopefully they will be the same way towards him.” Whether he is greeted with warm applause, pantomime hostility, icy indifference, or a combination of all three, one suspects Rice, a grown man who has been around the block, won’t particularly care.
Meanwhile up north, where Old Trafford’s roof will almost certainly get to showcase its leakiness in the face of a battering from Storm Ciarán, Newcastle have the chance to avenge their defeat in the final of last year’s Milk Cup when they take on Manchester United, except they won’t really. Perhaps overwhelmed by the prospect of winning their first proper silverware in 68 years, Eddie Howe’s side barely laid a glove on United at Wembley and while welcome and far from out of the question, victory tonight will in no way make up for that gutting defeat. “That’s not our emotion as I sit here now,” blabbed Howe when talk at his press conference turned to the subject of vengeance. “Our emotion is just to try to prepare and win the game. One win and we’re into the quarter-finals. We loved our run in it last year. This is a one-off game and I’m sure both teams will be motivated to try and win.”
In the other Capital One Cup fixtures, Everton host Burnley in the Sean Dyche derby, a match his current club are likely to be slightly more motivated to win than his former one, while Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino will almost certainly have both eyes on a potential horror-run of season-defining Premier League games against Tottenham, Manchester City, Newcastle, Brighton and Manchester United when he sends a selection of U16s, some canteen staff and a couple of fans picked at random from the stand to face Blackburn. At the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth will attempt to stretch their winning streak to two games against Liverpool, while the Tractor Boys of Championship high-flyers Ipswich could be forgiven for tanking their match against whatever side Fulham put out, even if losing in order to focus on the promotion race might not be as easy for this hugely impressive team as you’d think.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray for Manchester United 1-3 Newcastle in the Milk Cup at 8.15pm (all times GMT), while Michael Butler will be on hand to guide you through the rest of the night’s matches, as well as the quarter-final tombola, from 7.30pm.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You need more matches to come to that opinion. If you watch the games against Liverpool, Dortmund or Luton, in different circumstances [Nicolas Jackson] is a different player. It is dangerous to make this analysis on one game” – Mauricio Pochettino takes aim at Alan Shearer for claiming his goal-shy Chelsea striker is not a “natural goal scorer” by suggesting he watches three games (including a friendly) in which Jackson scores a single goal against one of the Premier League’s worst teams.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
I’m sure I won’t be the only cutlery-polishing, Henderson’s sauce-chugging and Judas Priest-listening reader to point out that Dejphon Chansiri’s proposal of sporadically paying out money for no return of anything of any apparent value is already the pan-Sheffield football business model at the moment, but I think Noble Francis’s keyboard, head and/or hands may have spontaneously exploded sometime yesterday, so I will, just in case” – Jon Millard.
The 2026 World Cup: 48 teams. The 2030 World Cup: six countries, three continents. The 2034 World Cup: Saudi Arabia. Will 2038 be hosted on the moon? Please restart your STOP FOOTBALL campaign” – Krishna Moorthy.
Will St James’ Park be a 2034 World Cup venue?” – Tim Diggles.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Krishna Moorthy.
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