the image above as a full-sized PDF file

The ultimate FA Cup sixth round guide
Words Bill Edgar
Kevin Davies
Birmingham v Bolton
Bolton Wanderers
Birmingham will test Barry Ferguson’s
broken rib while Liam Ridgewell,
Stephen Carr, Lee Bowyer, Craig
Gardner, David Bentley, Keith Fahey
and Nikola Zigic are doubts. Bolton
have Daniel Sturridge cup-tied so Ivan
Klasnic may play. The arrival of Curtis
Davies, a debutant last week, means
Birmingham have four former Aston
Villa players, including Ridgewell,
Gardner, Phillips
Tony Cascarino’s verdict
He is a limited player in lots of ways, but he is also a special one
because few turn around a spiralling career as successfully as
he has done. After becoming a big-money flop at Blackburn
Rovers in the late 1990s Davies returned to Southampton, then
had a loan spell at Millwall. I saw him play for them and he
looked so out of condition that I would have predicted that by
now he would be in League Two, not a first-choice at Bolton
who has recently been capped by England
That is down to hard work; his biggest asset is his
physical strength, so naturally enough he must be
in top condition to be effective. He is not a
prolific goalscorer but is a solid target man
who does a lot of unselfish graft and
Bolton look better when he is in the
team. He is notorious for collecting
yellow cards, but that is the price any
aggressive player must pay in the
modern game
What FA Cup means to them
Bolton, safe in league, can prioritise Cup
most among the last eight; contrast
Birmingham, booked for Europe
already and fearing drop
Fink Tank
Davies rose to prominence as part of the Chesterfield team — in the
third tier at the time — who took Middlesbrough to an FA Cup semi-final
replay in 1997, when he was 20
Davies’s FA Cup best
Davies has long engaged in physical battles at Bolton
1996-97
2002-03
Chesterfield
Semi-finalists
Southampton
Finalists*
Davies’s Premier League ranking (all as Bolton player)
* Not in match-day squad for final
but played in three earlier rounds
Fouls against
United have Nani, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny
Evans, Park Ji Sung, Anderson, Antonio
Valencia and Michael Owen injured but
Nemanja Vidic’s suspension is over and
Darren Fletcher should return to the
starting line-up after illness. Arsenal miss
Cesc Fàbregas, Theo Walcott, Alexandre
Song, Thomas Vermaelen and Wojciech
Szczesny. United (11) and Arsenal (10)
have won the FA Cup the most times,
with Tottenham third on eight
What FA Cup means to them
United favour league and Europe but
keen to end six-year FA Cup drought.
Arsenal, trophyless since 2005,
desperate to win anything
Fink Tank
2010-11
1st
8th
2009-10
1st
2nd
2008-09
1st
1st
2007-08
2nd*
5th
2006-07
1st=**
7th
Davies has not been a prolific goalscorer. His strike rate is less than one
goal per five games
544
105
Games
Goals
Davies has given better value for money to Bolton than to Blackburn
Davies’s fellow forwards at Bolton
who also appeared for Blackburn
Davies to Blackburn Rovers (1998)
Kevin Davies
Transfer fee paid
League games started
Bolton
Blackburn
2003–
1998–99
Bolton
Blackburn
2006
1999–2006
Youri Djorkaeff
Bolton
Blackburn
2002–04
2004
Bolton
Blackburn
(on loan to Rangers)
Free
272
Transfer fee paid
League games started
14 th
14
oldest England
debutant
when he played against
Montenegro last October
El-Hadji Diouf
2005–08
2009–now
Birmingham
(4-4-2)
Bolton
(4-4-2)
Birmingham will have recorded their
busiest cup season if they see off Bolton
B Foster
S Parnaby
C Davies
R Johnson
D Murphy
S Larsson
B Ferguson
J Mutch
J Beausejour
C Jerome
O Martins
J Jaaskelainen
G Steinsson
D Wheater
G Cahill
P Robinson
J Elmander
F Muamba
S Holden
M Petrov
K Davies
I Klasnic
Most Birmingham cup-ties in a season
Top scorer Zigic 8
Top scorer Elmander 10 (League Cup semis;
all competitions
This season
(League Cup winners;
FA Cup 6th round)
1994-95
(FA Cup 3rd; League
Cup 2nd; Associate
Members’ Cup winners)
1966-67
all competitions
FA Cup 6th)
Referee P Dowd (28 games, all competitions) 107 9
33 200
years
days
A29%
What FA Cup means to them
City covet Champions League slot but
long to end their 35-year wait for a
trophy. Reading only on fringes of
promotion race, so excited by Cup
H61%
D21%
A19%
Form and fitness problems have left
Arsenal without a consistent presence
in goal this season
Proportion of Arsenal starts by most
regular goalkeeper (all competitions)
Man Utd
(4-5-1)
Arsenal
(4-2-3-1)
E van der Sar
Rafael Da Silva
C Smalling
N Vidic
P Evra
D Fletcher
M Carrick
P Scholes
R Giggs
W Rooney
D Berbatov
M Almunia
B Sagna
J Djourou
L Koscielny
G Clichy
Denilson
J Wilshere
S Nasri
T Rosicky
A Arshavin
R van Persie
Top scorer
Berbatov 19
Top scorers Nasri,
Van Persie 15
Referee C Foy (26 games)
2002-03 73% (Seaman)
2003-04 92% (Lehmann)
2004-05 72% (Lehmann)
2005-06 80% (Lehmann)
2006-07 75% (Lehmann)
2007-08 66% (Almunia)
56
2008-09 72% (Almunia)
2009-10 65% (Almunia)
1
Stoke test Jermaine Pennant’s knee
while Abdoulaye Faye may return after
a hamstring problem. West Ham have
Robbie Keane over a calf injury but
Gary O’Neil is cup-tied and Jack Collison
and Junior Stanislas are injured. Stoke
and West Ham will have met in both
domestic cup competitions this season
– Aston Villa and Blackburn also did so
What FA Cup means to them
Stoke target first FA Cup Final but
becoming anxious about relegation.
Thrice Cup winners West Ham in
bottom three, focusing on league
Fink Tank
H48%
D25%
A27%
This season 42% (Fabianski)
Kick-off 4.45pm tomorrow
Television ESPN. Radio BBC Radio 5 Live
Man City
(4-2-3-1)
Reading
(4-4-2)
J Hart
M Richards
V Kompany
J Lescott
P Zabaleta
Y Touré
G Barry
D Silva
C Tévez
M Balotelli
E Dzeko
A McCarthy
Z Khizanishvili
I Ingimarsson
A Pearce
I Harte
J Kébé
M Leigertwood
J Karacan
J McAnuff
N Hunt
S Long
Top scorer
Tévez 24
Top scorer
Long 20
Referee L Probert (25 games)
City’s FA Cup record has been poor
since they lost the 1981 final replay to
Tottenham Hotspur
FA Cup semi-final appearances since 1981
12
11
9
9
0
Manchester United
Arsenal
Chelsea
Liverpool
60
6
Stoke City v West Ham United
consecutive seasons
in the top flight
— aside from two months
on loan to Millwall in 2002
aged
D26%
10
10
9
Kick-off 5.15pm today
Television ITV1. Radio BBC Radio 5 Live
Manchester City v Reading
Fink Tank
£4.5m
12
Davies to Bolton (2003)
Matt Jansen
H45%
City will check on Mario Balotelli after
his allergic reaction against Dynamo
Kiev on Thursday and James Milner is a
serious doubt. Reading miss Adam
Federici, the injured goalkeeper, while
Matt Mills, the captain, is a doubt.
Balotelli’s scoring rate for City this
season is one goal per 113 minutes;
Carlos Tévez has scored at one per 139
minutes
Davies’s league career record
* Behind John Carew (Aston Villa)
** Level with Michael Brown (Fulham)
Davies has linked up at Bolton with three
forwards who, like him, have played for
Blackburn, Bolton’s local rivals
A33%
Kick-off 12.45pm today
Television ESPN. Radio BBC Radio 5 Live
Manchester United v Arsenal
It would be no surprise if he picks
up another today in the last eight
of the FA Cup when Bolton face
Birmingham City, a clash that will
not be for the faint-hearted. Will the
33-year-old move to a bigger club? I
doubt it at his age, and he would not be
a regular starter if he did, so he would
lose his edge and run the risk of another
rapid decline
Fouls
H40% D27%
Sixth
round
FA Cup
Manchester City
Kick-off 2pm tomorrow
Television ITV1. Radio BBC Radio 5 Live*
*Sports Extra (whole game); 5 Live (first half)
Stoke City
(4-4-2)
West Ham
(4-3-3)
T Sorensen
A Wilkinson
R Shawcross
R Huth
D Higginbotham
J Pennant
D Whitehead
R Delap
M Etherington
K Jones
R Fuller
R Green
J Tomkins
M Da Costa
M Upson
W Bridge
M Noble
S Parker
T Hitzlsperger
F Piquionne
C Cole
D Ba
Top scorers Huth,
Jones, Walters 7
Top scorer
Cole 11
Referee M Jones (27 games)
West Ham may fear that history is
about to repeat itself
Highest points tallies for relegated
top-flight team since change to 38-game
season in 1995-96
West Ham (2003)
42
Coventry (1997)
41
Bolton (1998)
40
This season
West Ham
96
5
31
(eighteenth) on course to go down