Source: TheGuardian
AFC Wimbledon v West Ham: FA Cup fourth round – live!
FA Cup updates from the 7.45pm (GMT) kick-off ‘It’s got the feel of the old Wimbledon’: Downes plots FA Cup shockYou can email Ben your thoughts or via Twitter @benfisherj 6.52pm GMT Team news news: so, no Marko Arnautovic for West Ham, but Manuel Pellegrini names a strong side nevertheless, including Javier Hernandez and Andy Carroll. Declan Rice is rested, on the bench alongside Felipe Anderson. The former Charlton winger Scott Wagstaff starts for AFC Wimbledon, as does the Bournemouth loanee Aaron Ramsdale. 6.48pm GMT AFC Wimbledon: Ramsdale, Watson, Thomas, Oshilaja, McDonald, Nightingale, Wordsworth, Connolly, Pinnock, Appiah, Wagstaff Subs: McDonnell, Sibbick, Garratt, Trotter, Soares, Jervis, Pigott 6.44pm GMT This one has the scent of a proper upset. After near-misses at New Meadow and the Riverside earlier, AFC Wimbledon, at the wrong end of League One, up against a Jeykll and Hyde West Ham United – a team dining at the top table – has the makings of a cup classic. This is AFC Wimbledon’s first FA Cup fourth-round outing since their reformation in 2002 – though they have lost all their previous two FA Cup meetings with Premier League opposition (2014-15 v Liverpool and 2017-18 v Spurs). “I think going head-to-head with a Premier League team you’re going to come unstuck nine times out of 10,” says manager Wally Downes. “So you can’t go gung-ho. But I’ve never been involved in a football match when one of the teams didn’t have an opportunity.” The history does not bode well for West Ham either, having been eliminated from two of their last four FA Cup ties against League One teams, including a 2-0 at Wigan Athletic last season. In terms of team news, the talented Wimbledon teenager Anthony Hartigan is suspended, while Adrian will start in goal for the visitors. Marko Arnautovic was not expected to be involved, though it will be interesting to see if Manuel Pellegrini does throw the forward, fresh from a remarkable U-turn after throwing his toys of the pram, in at Kingsmeadow as something of a punishment. Related: ‘It’s got the feel of the old Wimbledon’: Downes and Hodges plot FA Cup shock Continue reading......read full article
