Leicester were without striker Jamie Vardy for the first time and were under huge pressure from Tottenham. In the FA Cup, Van Gaal knew it would be difficult for him to stay at Man Utd if he did not go far and win this Cup.
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| Premier League Round 35 Man City - Stoke (6:45 p.m., Saturday, April 23): With Man Utd having to play the FA Cup semi-finals, Man City have the opportunity to increase the gap with their rivals in the race for a place in the Champions League next season. If they beat Stoke, Manuel Pellegrini's team will increase the gap with the team currently in fifth place to five points. Meanwhile, next week, Man Utd will have a match that is predicted to be difficult against Leicester. City's form has been quite poor since Pellegrini announced that he would leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season. But thanks to their achievement in the Champions League semi-finals, they are regaining their inspiration. Four days after the match against Stoke, Man City will continue to welcome Real Madrid. They need a good run to prepare actively for this big match. In the last two matches, Stoke conceded eight goals. Their chaotic defense will be "easy prey" for Sergio Aguero, who has just reached the milestone of 100 goals in the Premier League. Aguero is the second fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals, behind only Alan Shearer. The Argentine reached the milestone after 147 games, while Shearer reached it after 124. His goal in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle last week also took Aguero's goal tally for the season to 22, level with Jamie Vardy and just two goals behind Harry Kane. |
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| Bournemouth vs Chelsea (9pm, Saturday, April 23): Bournemouth's 1-0 win in the first leg at Stamford Bridge was the highlight of their memorable first season in the Premier League. A place in the top half of the table is within Eddie Howe's reach if they beat Chelsea, who are currently 10th and three points ahead of them. At the start of the season, Bournemouth were among the relegation candidates. What they have achieved is a success beyond their expectations. What Bournemouth have shown is a fearless style of play, which has brought them points against teams with much greater potential. What would be better if Eddie Howe's army ended the season with two wins against the defending champions. Chelsea, at this point, have nothing to strive for. They were knocked out of the Champions League by PSG and beaten by Everton in the FA Cup. A place in next season's European Cup is also almost out of reach for Guus Hiddink's team. |
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| Aston Villa – Southampton (9pm, Saturday, April 23): Ronald Koeman says his team must win all four remaining matches if they want to qualify for the Europa League next season. The away match at Aston Villa, who were relegated after nine consecutive defeats, seems like a good opportunity for them to start this goal. However, Southampton will have to face Man City and Tottenham afterwards. They still have a goal to strive for but also understand that it is difficult to achieve. In this match, Southampton lost striker Charlie Austin due to injury, but welcomed the return of Jose Fonte and Victor Wanyama (pictured). For Villa, the 0-1 loss to Man Utd last round officially brought them to play in the Championship next season. According to center-back Joleon Lescott, the team's relegation is like he and his teammates have thrown their worries off their shoulders. But let's see, can the Villa Park team salvage their honor in the final rounds when the pressure of relegation is no longer there? |
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| Liverpool – Newcastle (9pm, Saturday, April 23): Rafael Benitez (pictured) will return to Anfield, six years after leaving Liverpool, and his task in this return to the old place is not easy. Defeat to his old team could leave Benitez helpless in keeping Newcastle in the Premier League. The "Magpies" currently have 29 points, two points behind the safe position of Norwich. In fact, Newcastle are gradually finding stability under Benitez. After a 3-0 victory over Swansea, the Spanish strategist continued to help his team keep a point when hosting Man City last weekend. This weekend, Norwich does not play and Sunderland must play Arsenal. Therefore, a victory could help Benitez's army escape the red light group with only three rounds left to end the season. However, Liverpool are not an easy team to beat at this time. They are flying high under Jurgen Klopp after three consecutive Premier League wins and a Europa League semi-final win over Dortmund. Liverpool have scored 14 goals in their last three games, making it difficult to stop their attack at the moment. |
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| Sunderland – Arsenal (20:05 Sunday, April 24): Sunderland often make spectacular escapes when the season is coming to an end. The 3-0 victory over Norwich last weekend revived that spirit for their fans. If the “Black Cats” stay in the Premier League next season, the first credit must go to Jermain Defoe (left), the veteran striker who has scored 16 goals for them this season. Defoe has scored three goals in the last five matches. He is the most dangerous weapon that coach Sam Allardyce has. On Arsenal’s side, a 2-0 victory over West Brom in the midweek make-up match helped Wenger’s team rise to third place, two points ahead of Man City. With Man Utd chasing fiercely behind, keeping a safe distance to ensure a place in the Champions League is the top priority. Arsenal have a good record when playing at Sunderland’s The Light Stadium. They have won all four times they have visited here. |
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| Leicester – Swansea (10:15 p.m. Sunday, April 24): Swansea is Leicester's easiest opponent in the four rounds that will decide their chances of winning the championship. After hosting the Welsh team, the Foxes will face Man Utd, Everton and Chelsea in turn. However, this weekend's match will be a huge challenge for Leicester because they will not have their main striker Jamie Vardy. The England striker received a red card in the 2-2 draw with West Ham in the previous round and will have to sit out. In the last two matches, Vardy scored three goals for Leicester. His ability to move and apply pressure makes the Foxes' attacks more varied and, in particular, Vardy's finishing ability helps Leicester win matches where they are not superior to their opponents. Vardy has played in all 34 of Leicester's matches this season, scoring 22 goals, just two goals behind Harry Kane in the race for the top scorer. The person who will replace him is likely to be Leonardo Ulloa. The problem is that Ulloa is a one-touch striker, not a good one-touch finisher. He will find it difficult to combine with Okazaki to create an effective counter-attack for Leicester. Furthermore, in 12 of the last 14 matches, Ranieri has used the same starting lineup for Leicester. This chaos is not good for the “Foxes”, especially at a time when every match can decide the championship. |
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| Tottenham – West Brom (2am Tuesday, April 26): Tottenham continue to have to play late, after Leicester, but this time, they have an advantage over their opponents in spirit. The “Rooster” entered the match against West Brom after winning two consecutive matches against Man Utd and Stoke, scoring seven goals and conceding none. Up to now, Tottenham is the most stable and deserving team to win the championship. If Leicester's victories came in a close way, creating a feeling of fragility, Tottenham won in the opposite style - playing very solidly and winning convincingly. Their squad consists of a squad of young, even and talented players. Tottenham is the team that has scored the most goals (64) and conceded the fewest (25) in the Premier League since the beginning of this season. In addition to the match against West Brom, Tottenham will meet Chelsea, Southampton and Newcastle. Obviously, the schedule of Mauricio Pochettino's team is much easier than Leicester. Of these, West Brom, Chelsea and Southampton have all run out of goals to strive for. Newcastle are in the relegation zone but by the final round their fate could have been sealed. |
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| FA Cup semi-final Everton – Man Utd (23:15, Saturday, April 23): Before the FA Cup semi-final against Man Utd, many experts predicted that Roberto Martinez's fate (pictured) would be decided by the result of this encounter. The 11th place in the Premier League is not worthy of the ambition of the Merseyside team. The performance of Martinez and his team has been labeled "below expectations". Fans outside Goodison Park are screaming, demanding the Spanish strategist to be fired. Martinez's efforts for Everton this season are not small. He has tried many tactics and in fact, it still works smoothly with the attack. But Everton's defense this season has sometimes made fans bewildered because of their blameworthy mistakes. Losing 0-4 to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby, Martinez understood that the fans had left him. Despite this poor preparation, the former Wigan coach still had to enter the match against Man Utd with the best possible alertness. Simply put, if he loses, he will be fired. Even if he wins, Martinez is not sure he can keep his job. Perhaps, only the Cup won at Wembley can help him stay with Everton. Similar pressure also comes to Van Gaal when he and Man Utd enter this match. Because the path to the top 4 of the Premier League is still very uncertain, the FA Cup is the lifebuoy for the "Red Devils" to salvage some honor. And if they cannot conquer this achievement, Van Gaal will most likely have to leave, leaving Man Utd to find a new coach, possibly Jose Mourinho. |
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| Crystal Palace – Watford (10pm Sunday, April 24): Alan Pardew (pictured) is no stranger to the feeling of participating in an FA Cup final, but he has never won this long-standing Cup. Pardew was a member of the Palace team that faced Man Utd in the 1990 final. At that time, the two teams drew 3-3, but Man Utd won the replay thanks to the only goal of Lee Martin. In 2006, Pardew led West Ham to the FA Cup final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. They led Liverpool for most of the match. However, Steve Gerrard's first-minute stoppage-time goal in the second half sent the match to a penalty shootout, which Liverpool won. Can Alan Pardew reach an FA Cup final for the third time? To achieve that, he needs to help his team beat Watford. Speaking of Palace and Watford this season, both teams have had very good periods. For Pardew's side, it was early in the season when they were closing in on the top four, while Watford had a period when they won consecutive games thanks to their traditional two-striker style and the form of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo. |
According to VNE
According to VNE
