Buzzin Championship Football

Two second half goals from Danny Ings settled the top of the table clash on Saturday afternoon and meant that Burnley have now established a three point lead over Leicester. The Foxes beat Bournemouth 2-1, who finished with ten men after Elliott Ward was sent off following a second yellow card.

Arguably the most eventful game of the weekend was at Bloomfield Road, which featured two penalties, an last minute equalising own goal and two red cards. Blackpool scored three of the goals in the 2-2 draw but unfortunately the last one was a Stephen Davies own goal. That came five minutes after Jack Robinson and DJ Campbell of Blackburn had been dismissed for fighting after the latter had clattered Matt Gilks.

The big surprise at the bottom was Yeovil beating Nottingham Forest – the Glovers took an early lead thanks to Ed Upson and two further goals in three minutes at the end of the first half was enough for the Somerset club to record their first home win this season. Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday shared the points at Oakwell, so both drop below Yeovil.

With only three teams left in the Capital One Cup, it’s hard to see any of them reaching the semi finals but there’s a reasonable chance that Birmingham, Burnley and Leicester could all reach the next round. All three are in action tomorrow night and none of their Premier League opponents are in the top half of the current table.

Birmingham v Stoke

First meeting in the competion and first meeting at St Andrew’s since February 2011 – Stoke have only won once in their last ten trips to Birmingham and that was 25 years ago. Apart from their unexpected win in 2011, The Blues haven’t reached the fifth round of the competition since 2006. Stoke have reached this stage in four of the last five seasons but have failed to progress any further.

Chance of an upset: Not much. Neither club is doing particularly well this season, although not doing well in the Premier League isn’t exaclty the same as not doing well in the Championship. The bookies have Stoke as favourites I’m not sure either club will relish a cup run – although it would be a morale booster for the Blues.

Burnley v West Ham

Third meeting in the competition: West Ham won both legs without conceeding a goal in the first round of the 1980/81 competition and went on to reach the final, where they lost to Liverpool in a replay. Burnley were in the third division at the time but in the four league meetings in the league since then the Clarets have only lost once: they’ve not got past this round since 2008/09, which is almost as good as West Ham’s recent record in the competition.

Chance of an upset: good – apart from the surprise result at White Hart Lane in the Premier League, West Ham have had problems scoring away from home for a while and as we found out on Saturday, Burnley’s defence is capable of holding their own. A win for the Clarets might get them some well deserved national attention.

Leicester v Fulham

Second meeting in the competition with the hosts having won both games – although Leicester’s victory in the quarter finals in January 2000 came courtesy of penalty shootout and was the last time they reached that stage in the competition. Additionally, City have failed to win either of the meetings between the sides since the opening of the King Power Stadium in 2002.

Chance of an upset: Leicester are favourites, but I don’t think this competition is a priority for either Nigel Worthington or Martin Jol although I could see Fulham reaching the final. Don’t quote me on that though!

Back on Friday for a weekend preview – unless there’s a real surprise or someone gets the chop, in which case there’ll be an update.