The FA Cup Quarter-Finals, then. Just two London clubs still in it, but with both facing tricky away ties, the Londonist wouldn't like to bet on how many will still be in at a quarter to five on Saturday. Actually they'll be at least one because Tottenham's game against Newcastle isn't on until 4pm on Sunday, and Arsenal's result against Bolton will already be known for a few hours as that one kicks off at 12:15 on Saturday. But don't get us started on how TV's ruining football.
Arsenal's chances of progressing past Bolton were dealt a blow this week with the news that Thierry Henry will be out for up to three weeks with a calf strain. Henry has also been moaning to the press this week saying that they are financially "not even competing with Tottenham", while goalie Jans Lehmann has blamed the lack of a winter break to be the cause of Arsenal's failings against German side Bayern Munich. Perhaps forgetting how easily Liverpool waltzed past Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 on aggregate, and French side Lyon trounced Werder Bremen 10-2 on aggregate.
No such silly European concerns for Tottenham. They've had a nice relaxing build-up to the game which has allowed goalkeeper Paul Robinson to practice some maths. Talking to reporters this week about the Quarter-Final, the Spurs stopper revealed that "there are only two games bigger in the competition." He then went on to say "I think we have got three to come, two more if we get past this one!" But the Londonist isn't sure what he was talking about by this point. Tottenham fans won't need any reminding about what happened the last time these two sides met in the FA Cup and those heading up from North London will be hoping for something rather better this time round.
In Division Two, the match of the weekend sees West Ham take on Reading for the last play-off place. The division shows two good teams battling it out for a chance to play in the country's top division. However, reality shows that Reading are proving what a mediocre division it is this year as they haven't won a league game for two and a half months and are still sixth. And West Ham are below Reading.
Millwall travel to table-toppers Wigan in the hope, more than the expectation, of bringing three points back with them to keep their play-off dream alive. You suspect they won't.
Two teams that can put this season in the "It could've been worse" category are QPR and Watford. Except for Watford it could be worse. After two awful home defeats in a week against relegation-threatened Coventry and Forest, they're not out of the water yet. The teams meet at Loftus Road on Saturday in what should be a more interesting encounter than it sounds.
In the Third, Brentford travel to Doncaster, who despite being in 11th place are just three points below the Bees and will still fancy their chances of getting a play-off place. While in the Fourth, Leyton Orient's season continues to fizzle out. They're at home to Conference-bound Cambridge United.
