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FA Cup Rules
A quick reminder once again to this year's "updated" cup rules ... and so just like previous rounds, everything is in one place relating to this tie.
VAR
So far in the cup only the ties played at Premier League grounds have had the use of VAR while others played at lower league grounds haven't ... but this round (Quarter Final) onwards ALL ties will have the use of VAR including our tie against Everton (see the Refereeing Team above on top of the time-zones map).
Substitutes
The total subs allowed in the FA Cup games this season are FIVE and the no. to named on the bench have also increased from SEVEN to NINE in total. But only THREE slots during the game can be used to make these subs, other than the half-time.
Concussion Subs
Should any player or players suffer from concussion during the game, than TWO extra concussion subs are allowed per game. That's in addition to the normal FIVE allowed and irrespective of what time in the game they're used.
Drawn Ties
In case of a draw, the games will go to EXTRA-TIME (when a SIXTH sub is allowed as well) and then on to PENALTIES, so an eventual winner will be decided on the same day ... with no replays this year.
Quarter Finals Line-up
The oldest cup competition is back this weekend and the Quarter Final ties of the Emirates FA Cup are as follows (with all four games being staged across the weekend of Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 March 2021.)
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All games will be shown live in the UK via the BBC and BT Sport, who will each broadcast two ties. All clubs in the quarter-finals will receive a £200,000 live broadcast fee and full details for each fixture are as follows:
Saturday 20 March 2021
Bournemouth v Southampton | 12:15pm | BT Sport 1 & BT Sport 1HD
Everton v Manchester City | 5:30pm | BT Sport 1 & BT Sport 1HD
Sunday 21 March 2021
Chelsea v Sheffield United | 1:30pm | BBC One, BBC 1HD & BBC iPlayer
Leicester City v Manchester United | 5:00pm | BBC One, BBC 1HD & BBC iPlayer
Winning and losing clubs in the quarter-finals will also collect £270,000 and £90,000 respectively from the competition’s prize fund.
Busy for Us - Not for Them
What does Carlo Ancelotti want more? The FA Cup or a place in the top four (and with that the Champions League next season). I don't think that for Everton (or for Carlo) this question even comes into play just as yet ... because one, they've fallen slightly behind in that Top Four race (so putting all eggs in that basket might not be advisable) and two, this fixture isn't tied into any back to back games or a heavy schedule for them. They have had a cushy week off and nothing afterwards for two weeks, except a few of their players who might or might not be called on international duty.
This is clearly an advantage they have over us as far as scheduling goes ... as they are having a whole week free in the build-up to this tie, while we have just played the mid-week Champions League game all the way out in Budapest, Hungary and will possibly only be back tomorrow (Wednesday), which leaves us just two clear days in between to prepare for this game. Actually if I want to be extremely pedantic, we have played two games more (Fulham and Monchengladbach, both away) since they had already finished their last game (against Burnley, at home).
Anyway, here are the before and after games for both clubs ...
Everton
Sat 13 Mar - 5:30pm - Burnley (H) - PL
Sat 20 Mar - 5:30pm - City (H) - FA Cup QF
Mon 5 Apr - 6:00pm - Crystal Palace (H) - PL
Manchester City
Tue 16 Mar - 8:00pm - Mönchengladbach (H) - CL
Sat 20 Mar - 5:30pm - Everton (A) - FA Cup QF
Sat 3 Apr - 5:30pm - Leicester City (A) - PL *
* subject to change depending on Champions League QF ties the following week.
Nothing to worry for either team about the games 'after' just as yet ... as they're not till after that two week long international break. The only thing to look forward to immediately after this tie is maybe the FA Cup Semi Finals Draw the day after this game (on Sunday) should we get through here.
Debunking Myths
Every time I start a pre-match thread, I have a quick look at the Premier League table just to see where the opponent stands and how they have done so far in the season compared to us in terms of points, wins, goals scored, conceded etc. etc. ... just a place to start.
I then also look up the form table, last six games ... as that is more relevant rather than the whole season's league table. Well this is a cup game and not league related but since both teams would have won all their previous ties to be here in the cup so no point looking at the cup runs of the two; I thought I'd still look up the league form table anyway ...
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Tells me absolutely nothing ... Everton are seventh in the league currently and here eighth in the form table. So yeah right where I expected to see them ... but then I remembered the commentator going on and on about how poor Everton have been at home this season during the game we played there a few weeks ago in that rescheduled league game. So I thought I would split the form into last six home and away games and look at those separately ...
Surprise, surprise ... look at this:
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Everton are right at the bottom ... as good (or I should say, as bad) as Fulham and Southampton are in form. Yes, I had a little giggle looking at those six reds for the 'reds' down the absolute bottom of that table ... but then that made me look up the league table at home for the whole season and to my surprise as bad as Liverpool have been and despite having lost six home games in a row, they still are six points better off than Everton at home. So while Liverpool are just bad since the start of the year at home, Everton have been really poor (at home) all throughout the season.
Just to confirm then that its Everton's away form that has been carrying them so high up in the league so far (and also in the overall form table) ... I also looked up the away from table:
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Well, what does this all mean for us?
It means that Everton on the weekend will have ZERO home advantage. If anything, the poor run of form at home will even weigh (negatively) on their minds ... and doesn't help that just a few home games ago it was us inflicting another defeat there, adding to that poor record at Goodison Park this season.
The scheduling advantage that I mentioned above, having a whole free week (for them) ... I think even that works in our favour ... at least for our squad it does ... because we rotate so many from one game to next, the shorter time in between games suits us in that as it keeps everyone fresh, and ready to come in, wanting to come in, and whoever comes in wants to perform to play the next one as well and not get rotated out ... and all that happens quickly without having to wait too long for the next game.
Hungry eyes ... as one Mr Zinchenko phrased it!
Don't pay too much attention to these bits this week then if you hear ... them being at home and us away - or - that they have had a full week's rest while we have been playing away in Europe ... nah, neither matters ... it's all good news for City!
Player Suspensions
Thanks to @St.Pauli support for suggesting that I add information on possible player suspensions in these pre-match threads, especially for the Domestic Cups and Champions League games ... and then also pointing me to the right resource from where to pick this information.
We have two players on ONE Yellow Card each at present in the FA Cup run ... Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte. The cup rules state if a player receives TWO Yellows during the cup run they'd miss the next cup game ... but also says this has a cut-off point at "Quarter Finals (inclusive)" ... which has left me confused somewhat that should either of them receive a Yellow in this game against Everton, would they miss the Semi Final or does that cut off point being the Quarter Final stage, these won't apply for the Semi Final or Final?
A quick Google didn't help, so I ended up downloading the FA Cup Rules from the FA's website and also a PDF handbook they have for players (yes, there is such a thing) that explains (or at least tries to) the rules to players what would happen to them with various on-field scenarios ... frankly, that one has left me even more confused and I really wonder how it gets through to players. I have finally dropped the FA an email asking for clarification but haven't received a reply yet; will correct/update this info here if and when they reply.
Anyway, as far as suspensions for us are concerned, only two players for us are possible contenders for that (unconfirmed - as above) but both those positions are well covered should either or both of them need to sit out the Semi Final. I would think João Cancelo and John Stones (alongside Ruben Dias) in those two positions would be preferred by many of us over those two anyway if we get through to the Semis.
Match Prediction
We might concede here ... but expecting the same result as our last month's visit to the Goodison Park.
Everton 1 - 3 Manchester City
