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Early final FA Cup favorites Arsenal, Chelsea clash in quartersPosted: Thursday March 06, 2003 9:22 AMLONDON (AP) -- Arsenal and Chelsea are meeting again in the "final" of the FA Cup. But this year it's being played two months ahead of schedule. Not really. But it's almost true. Saturday's FA Cup quarterfinal between Arsenal and Chelsea is expected to be the decider in England's top cup competition. A year ago the two did meet in the final, which Arsenal won 2-0 en route to its league and cup double. Sunday's three other quarterfinals are relatively nondescript with first-division Sheffield United vs. Leeds, Southampton vs. first-division Wolves, and a first-division showdown between Watford and Burnley. A lone Premier League game is also set for Saturday with Bolton at League Cup champion Liverpool. The defending league and FA Cup champion Gunners are the clear favorites again to reach the May 17 final in Cardiff. "When you are a winner, you always want to win," Arsenal striker Theirry Henry said. "Of course, that does not mean you are going to win all the time. But when you taste it, you want to taste it again. "When you remember the times you have won, it gives you so much pleasure. You get no pleasure at all when you remember the time you lost." Arsenal is five points ahead of Man United in the Premier League after the Reds defeated Leeds Wednesday 2-1 to narrow the gap. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has accused Arsenal of being "overconfident," probably hoping to unsettle the Gunners. But England and Arsenal defender Sol Campbell says it isn't so. "We are confident, but not overconfident," Campbell said. "We've not lost sight of what we are trying to achieve. We are in a good position but we are not taking anything for granted." Arsenal may field only a half-strength team against Chelsea, hoping to rest Henry and Dennis Bergkamp from next week's critical Champions League game against Roma at Highbury. A victory there could get the Gunners into the quarterfinals of Europe's top club competition -- manager Arsene Wenger's No. 1 priority. Wenger has a balancing act to pull off. Campbell did not say it in so many words, but Arsenal is gunning for the treble that Man United pulled off four years ago -- FA Cup, league and European Champions Cup in one season. "If we have got the chance of doing something this season, whatever competition it is in, we are going to try to grab it," he said. "We are in a situation where we have to keep our focus. We had done nothing yet and as a team we have to keep going." Chelsea will have revenge in mind. The Blues are shooting for a place next season in the Champions League and can always be threatening with strikers Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gianfranco Zola and Eidur Gudjohnsen. The Blues also have the best goalkeeper in the league in Italian Carlo Cudidini. First-division Sheffield United is trying for a second season victory over Leeds. The Blades defeated Leeds 2-1 in the League Cup third round. The game is crucial for cash-short Leeds, which finds the FA Cup as its only path to reach Europe next season. Wolverhampton's game at Southampton marks the return of former Saints coach Dave Jones to the southern English coastal city. Jones was acquitted of child abuse charges in December 2000. But Southampton, concerned about the bad publicity, replaced him with Glenn Hoddle. First-division sides Watford and Burnley both could use the cash injection from reaching the next round. Watford flirted with bankruptcy a year ago, and has already ousted Premier League sides West Brom and Sunderland from the competition. In the first division on Saturday: Bradford vs. Crystal Palace, Brighton vs. Rotherham, Coventry vs. Wimbledon, Ipswich vs. Stoke, Leicester vs. Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest vs. Grimsby, Preston vs. Derby, Walsall vs. Millwall. |
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