PREMIER LEAGUE & FA CUP SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW
It’s FA Cup Semi-Final weekend so a little bit of a shift from normal with our preview blog.
With the FA Cup semi-finals taking place this weekend, there are only six matches in the Premier League this weekend and truth be told there aren’t really any stand out games. Because of this, I have taken an executive decision to hijack the Premier League preview for this weekend and make it a combined Premier League and FA Cup preview.
Our Premier League & FA Cup Semi-Final preview is brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.
There’s only one Premier League game deserving of a spot in this illustrious preview, so the two FA Cup semi-finals will take up the other spot in our three game preview.
Premier League | Spurs Seek Pole Position
⚽ Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton
📅 Saturday 16 April 2022
⏰ 1230 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ BT Sport Live Streaming
Last weekend Brighton delivered a hammer blow to Arsenal’s Champions League hopes with a 2-1 win at the Emirates, and simultaneously handing Spurs a big advantage in the battle for top four. With a second straight trip to North London this weekend, the Seagulls will be looking to restore the balance in that top four race by knocking off Antonio Conte’s Spurs.
Spurs looked dominant last weekend as they swept aside Aston Villa with their front three in incredible form. The balance and quality of the Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Heung Min Son trio is outstanding and they have already developed a brilliant understanding between them. Tottenham’s January buys, Kulusevski and midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, have both settled very quickly and immediately raised the level of this Spurs team. Antonio Conte appears to have hit the right buttons with his players and his fingerprints are all over their style of play.
Brighton had not won in their previous seven games before they toppled the Gunners and they will be hoping that win will mark a turnaround for them. They’d lost six in a row, and then drawn with Norwich, to mark a black spot on their season. For a team that went three months without winning, that is saying something. The last of those six straight defeats was the home fixture against Tottenham, a game in which Spurs simply outclassed them. Graham Potter will be looking for revenge this weekend.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch Premier League matches. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
FA Cup Semi-Final 1 | Something Has To Give
⚽ Manchester City vs Liverpool
📅 Saturday 16 April 2022
⏰ 1530 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Live BBC Sport Streaming
First things first, a reminder that this game should be played at Old Trafford and not at Wembley. For two northern teams to have to travel to London for this game is silly. It could easily have been played Sunday at Old Trafford.
These sides met last weekend and played out a 2-2 draw in which City were undoubtedly the better team but couldn’t find a way to beat Jurgen Klopp’s team. With neither team landing a decisive blow in the title race, one of them will see their hopes of winning the FA Cup come to an end. With Liverpool chasing a quadruple, and City after a treble, one side will come away very disappointed this weekend.
City had a very difficult trip to Madrid during the week. Their game against Atletico was a character-testing war of attrition. Diego Simeone’s team used their entire array of dark arts but City held their nerve, rode their luck a little bit, and found a way to survive. The 0-0 draw in Madrid, combined with their 1-0 win on home soil in the first leg, saw them through to a semi-final date with Real Madrid but came at a cost. Both Kyle Walker and Kevin DeBruyne were forced off through injuries and are major doubts ahead of this weekend’s game.
Liverpool, with a 3-1 lead from the first leg, were able to heavily rotate their team and keep key players fit for the weekend when they faced Benfica on Wednesday night. A 3-3 was enough for them to secure progression to a semi-final meeting with Villarreal and was done without anyone picking up any injuries. That’s great news for Jurgen Klopp who finally has a strong squad at his disposal. The quadruple remains extremely unlikely but if Liverpool win on Saturday they will carry quadruple hopes into the month of May which no English team has managed before.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watching this FA Cup Semi-Final. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
FA Cup Semi-Final 2 | London Derby
⚽ Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
📅 Sunday 17 April 2022
⏰ 1630 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Live ITV Sport Streaming
Another reminder, this game should be being played at the Emirates or the London Stadium on the Saturday. Neither stadium is in use that day, and Wembley should only be used for finals.
The two Premier League matches between these sides this season have gone Chelsea’s way but Patrick Vieira and his men will be relishing another shot at the rich boys of West London. A chance to play in an FA Cup final will be a powerful motivator for this Palace team whereas most of Chelsea’s squad have already played in at least one. On the flip side, Chelsea have lost the last two FA Cup finals so may feel extra motivation to get to a third and finally win the damn thing!
Chelsea had a heartbreaking game in midweek when they went to Madrid to take on the mighty Real with a 3-1 deficit in front of them. Not only did they fight back to tie the aggregate score, they went ahead. 75 minutes in, they were 3-0 up and only 15 minutes minutes from a historic victory. Thomas Tuchel was piecing together a coaching masterpiece before Luka Modric conjured the assist of the season to create the first goal. Chelsea had chances to win the game in normal time but once it went to extra-time, Real’s experience and savvy gave them the edge and Karim Benzema put an end to Chelsea’s reign as Champions of Europe. Will the Blues use that game as even more motivation this weekend, or will they suffer a hangover from such heartbreak.
This is a free hit for Crystal Palace. Nobody expected them to get to the FA Cup semi-final and nobody expects them to defeat Chelsea and reach the final. The Eagles are sweating over the fitness of the outrageously talented Michael Olise and promising left back Tyrick Mitchell. Some outlets have suggested that Conor Gallagher is ineligible to play against his parent club, and that would be a huge blow for Palace but there is nothing in the rules of the FA Cup that says he can’t play. If Gallagher can play, Palace will cause Chelsea a lot of problems with their tempo and pressing. Much will depend on the form of talisman Wilf Zaha who, depending on his mood, could win this game all by himself.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watching this FA Cup Semi-Final. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
How to watch FA Cup Semi-Final matches from anywhere…
FA Cup matches for the 2020/21 season will be streamed live between BBC and ITV, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.
But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.
BBC iplayer only works in the uk. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues.
This is basically because their streaming services are geoblocked based on the IP address being used to access it. You must be a UK domestic web user to access BT Sport, Sky Sports, Amazon Prime UK, ITV and BBC Sport live tv streaming.
- Get a UK IP address for FA Cup Semi-Final matches
- If you want to watch on your Windows PC, Mac, FireTV, iPhone, iPad or Android then you can get a UK Proxy or VPN Apps from Liberty Shield, FREE for 48 hours and then from only £8.99 per month..
- Prefer to watch on supported media streaming devices like Now TV, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, Roku etc? You’ll need a UK configured VPN Router setup as British, available from only £14.99 with Worldwide Shipping available.
How can I watch ITV Sport FA Cup matches live?
The FA Cup will be broadcast entirely on free-to-air television in 2022 after ITV announced a four-year broadcast deal with the Football Association. ITV has revealed it will screen 20 live matches per season in the world’s oldest football competition from 2021/22 to 2024/25, sharing coverage with the BBC from the opening round through to the final.
ITV will have the first and fourth choices of the second and fourth rounds and the quarter-finals as well as second and third selections for the first, third and fifth rounds. Matches will be screen on terrestrial TV as well as ITV.com and ITV Hub apps on various devices.
How can I watch BBC Sport FA Cup matches live?
With Premier League Pay-Per-View now scrapped, the BBC gets their live action once again through their FA Cup rights. They also offer free FA Cup and Premier League VPN 20/21 highlights, with Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2, available live when screened on the BBC Sport website, and also on catchup with BBC iPlayer.
Furthermore; ITV Sport and BBC Sport aren’t the only geographically-censored streaming services a VPN or Proxy will allow you to access. Other UK services like Sky Sports, Now TV, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, BT Sport, All 4 and BritBox are available. Plus with the option to switch to our USA service whenever you like, you can access Hulu, HBO GO, Netflix and Pandora. Essentially you can access international content from virtually anywhere!
