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The new year brings as usual to everyone’s attention the FA Cup and the oldest competition in the world at the club level takes place the 141st edition in history.
It is the second most important activity in the country and the third round of the Federation Cup always represents a very special memory, as in this tour are included in this competition also the elite teams of the Premier League. For the sake of truth, this edition of the Football Association Challenge Cup started on August 6 last year, with the participation of 729 teams in total. 637 of these clubs started their adventure in the qualifying challenges, while 124 is considered the number of teams that appear in total in the main draw of this activity. It took 73 games and 210 goals in total to reach this stage of the competition which is also considered the Queen’s Cup.
The current holder of the FA Cup trophy is the team of Leicester City that on May 15 last year defeated the Chelsea team in the grand final of Wembley in front of 20,000 spectators, thanks to the goal scored half an hour before the end by the midfielder 24 -year-old Belgian Youri Tielemans, to mark the name of the club from Leicestershire for the first time in the golden book of the winning teams of this activity after a full four lost finals. Given the dominance of Manchester City in English football over the last decade the opportunity to win trophies on the island has been significantly limited, moreover the League Cup is taking from year to year a very special importance. Despite the success of the “foxes” in the last edition are full of 5 different clubs that have managed to triumph in the last 6 seasons of the most ancient competition in the plans of this sport. Apart from the team led by coach Brendan Rodgers, there are names like Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, so the only exception is the Arsenal team, and the curious fact is that in both 2017 and 2020, the “gunners” lost in the final. Chelsea’s other London team.
The Blues led by coach Thomas Tuchel are very close to the League Cup final, moreover in August last year the Chelsea team started the season by winning the European Super Cup, after beating the Villarreal team at the Windsor Park Stadium in Belfast -it after 11-meter shots. So Chelsea is in contention for the other five activities in which it participates, including of course the Club World Cup, which will start at the beginning of next month in the UAE, where the main rivals are considered clubs like Palmeiras and Monterrey, but it is still worth noting the fact that in the last five editions of the FA Cup “blue” have lost 3 of the 4 finals played. This time the bookmakers quote Guardiola City as the favorite team to triumph in the 141st edition of the FA Cup. Of course, looking at the appearances of recent years, Chelsea is ranked Second, while then in the list of favorite teams come clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United, so of course, it is more or less about the teams that are expected to represent England in the Champions season. next.
In the third round as usual enter into the dance in addition to the 20 elite clubs of the Premier League also 24 teams of the Championship. It all starts with the duel Swindon Town – Manchester City, which will be played on Friday night at 21:00 at County Ground Stadium. The club from Wiltshire in the southwest of the island is currently part of the fourth tier of English football. In fact, 8 clubs participate from League Two, practically the same as from League One, ie the third level in the English football pyramid. Chelsea will compete with Chesterfield, the fifth division team, from which clubs such as Boreham Wood and Yeovil Town have also survived, while the club with the lowest ranking in the “ranking” is undoubtedly the team of Kidderminster Harriers, i which holds the matches in the Northern Division in the National League, so it is a team of the sixth category in the country. As it is known in this activity there are no criteria and the lottery is free.
This is of particular interest to the only three couples where only Premier League teams clash: Leicester City – Watford, West Ham – Leeds and Manchester United – Aston Villa. The next round of 1/16 stage challenges is scheduled after just one month, from 4 to 7 February, so to avoid a pronounced calendar tightening, given the 19 postponed matches in the championship, almost all due to the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic situation and the new “omicron” variant, the leaders of the Federation have decided that by the end of the season there will be no additional meetings, but everything will end on the appointed day, with the match that will continue until the end, so going to extra time or even 11-meter shots, of course if necessary./SuperSport/
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