Premier League Saturday: April 16, 2011

Today’s matches involving Premier League teams will be quite a lot different than usual. There’s no early kick-off. And later today there’s the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley.

The heat is on during the 10am ET/3pm GMT kickoffs as several teams fighting to avoid relegation will battle against each other. Blackpool takes on Wigan. Whoever loses here will likely find themselves unable to avoid relegation this season. Then we have West Ham United against Aston Villa. A similar fate could fall to whoever loses here. Birmingham against Sunderland has turned into a battle to avoid relegation too with the Black Cats on a horrible run of form and Birmingham City haven’t been doing much better either.

With the recent run of good form by Everton, the Toffees are flying up the league but their opponents Blackburn have been sinking. Rovers will hope for a win at Goodison Park to climb themselves away from the drop zone.

Another team flying high is West Bromwich Albion who are at home against Chelsea. This could be a tricky tie for the Blues given how well Roy Hodgson’s team is performing.

And then, last but not least, the FA Cup semi-final kicks off at 12:15pm ET between Manchester City and Manchester United from Wembley. Let’s hope there’s no fan violence and that the game is an entertaining one to watch. If City wins, it could be a massive turning point in their history. If United win, it moves them one step closer to the possibility of winning the Treble (FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League). May the best team win.

Before, during or after the matches today, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section below.