Tuesday, January 3, 2012

FA Cup Preview

Quarter Finals (Wednesday)
Loei City v Songkla
Muangthong v Sriracha
Buriram PEA v BEC Tero
Army Utd v Chainat

Semi Finals (Saturday)
Loei City/Songkla v Muangthong/Sriracha
Buriram PEA/BEC Tero v Army Utd/Chainat

The semi final ties will be played on Saturday 7th January with the final taking place on Wednesday 11th January.
The Thai FA Cup finally has some symmetry about it as all 4 quarter finals will take place tomorrow night. The organisation of the tournament up until now has been farcical. The draw for the last 32 strangely had 36 teams, and at one point Sriracha, Loei City and Chainat had advanced to the quarter finals while Thai Port and Bangkok Glass were technically still waiting to play their last 64 tie after the first match had been abandoned weeks earlier due to a torrential rain storm.

Tomorrow night, Buriram PEA and BEC Tero will meet for the fifth time this season. So far, PEA have won all four contests and it would take a brave man to bet against them making it a fifth success. Army United should be strong enough to see off a Chainat side who have taken their foot off the pedal since they achieved promotion to the TPL, and likewise Muangthong will be favourites to beat Sriracha as the Twin Qilins aim to salvage something from a disappointing campaign. The final tie between second division Loei City and division one's Songkla ensures that a team outwith the TPL will reach the last 4. This match up is probably the most difficult to predict as both sides will see this as a winnable encounter.

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