FA Cup Football Preview

FA Cup – Fourth Round Preview

The FA Cup Third Round brought us plenty of goals, controversy and entertainment, and we’ll be hoping it’s no different this time around, with a plethora of exciting games. Let’s take a look at some of the more notable ones.

Friday 20:00 – Manchester United vs Middlesbrough

Manchester United edged past Aston Villa 1-0 in the third round, with some controversial decisions going against the latter during the game, so Ralf Rangnick’s side could consider themselves lucky to be here.

Middlesbrough also cut it fine with their result, needing a 95th minute own goal to get them a 3-2 win against League Two Mansfield Town.

Twitter – @Boro

Neither side won particularly convincingly, however, the Red Devils are likely to have more than enough quality to comfortably beat Chris Wilder’s side.

Saturday 12:30 – Chelsea vs Plymouth Argyle

An upcoming away day that Plymouth fans will never forget regardless of what the result may be, but just a standard cup tie for Chelsea.

Chelsea swept aside non-league Chesterfield in the third round, while Plymouth, semi finalists in 1984, seized an impressive win in extra time away to Championship Birmingham City.

Twitter – @only1argyle

Steven Schumacher’s side will certainly want to go to Stamford Bridge and cause an upset, but that will be a near impossible task. However if there’s one thing the FA Cup has taught us over the years, is expect the unexpected.

Saturday 12:30 – Kidderminster Harriers vs West Ham United

Kidderminster Harriers, all the way down in the National League North, host West Ham United, who are fifth in the Premier League. The gap between the two sides in the English football pyramid is 113 positions.

West Ham eased past Leeds in the third round, while Kidderminster caused a huge upset by dumping Championship Reading out of the Cup, however this one will be a lot more difficult.

Twitter – @khfcofficial

But as we know with the FA Cup, you can never rule anything out, but this will be a monumental task for Kidderminster, and many will expect an easy win for West Ham, however if Kidderminster win, it’ll surely be one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of all time, and it will get them to the fifth round for the first time since 1993/94.

Saturday 17:30 – Cambridge United vs Luton Town

These two sides returned to the Football League together in 2014, Luton were promoted to the Championship five years later in 2019, meanwhile Cambridge were still stuck in League Two until their promotion to League One last season.

Luton, FA Cup runners up in 1959, comfortably beat League Two Hartlepool United 4-0 in the third round, whereas Cambridge United arguably caused the upset of the third round, beating Newcastle United 1-0 away at St James’ Park. Cambridge are aiming to reach the fifth round for the first time in 22 years

Twitter – @CambridgeUtdFC

Mark Bonner’s men will certainly have momentum and confidence following that game, especially as, on paper this game is a lot easier.

Cambridge knocked Luton out of the FA Cup back in 2015 to set up a stellar tie with Manchester United, however the task will be a lot harder this time around, with Luton a much stronger side.

Saturday 20:00 – Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton

A fairly standard FA Cup tie but an attractive one nonetheless. Both sides left it late to secure their wins with Brighton needing extra time to beat West Brom, while Tottenham were 1-0 down to League One strugglers Morecambe until the 74th minute, winning 3-1 in the end.

Tottenham have won the FA Cup eight times, but not since 1991, meanwhile Brighton’s best FA Cup finish was as runners up in 1983

Twitter – @OfficialBHAFC

Most would expect Tottenham to come out on top in this one, and there’s a chance we could see new signings Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski in action for the first time in a Spurs shirt.

Sunday 12:00 – Liverpool vs Cardiff City

Premier League title challengers Liverpool take on Championship relegation strugglers Cardiff City. Liverpool beat Shrewsbury 4-1 in the third round after going 1-0 down, while Cardiff beat Preston North End 2-1 after extra time.

Cardiff have won their last two games and will be looking to make it three in very impressive fashion. Liverpool will be without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane who will be playing against each other in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations later in the evening, which is likely to benefit Cardiff a lot.

However even without two of their best forwards, many will expect a Liverpool walkover, with the Anfield crowd on Cardiff’s backs, it’ll be hard for the Bluebirds to get a result.

Sunday 16:00 – Nottingham Forest vs Leicester City

An East-Midlands Derby, this will certainly be an exciting tie. Leicester comfortably knocked out Watford in the third round, with Forest causing another classic FA Cup shock, dumping out Arsenal, for the second time in four years.

Twitter – @NFFC

Both sides will be up for this game, many would expect the Foxes to win, but if Forest can beat Arsenal, then they can certainly beat Brendan Rogers’ Leicester. Watch this space!

Sunday 18:30 – AFC Bournemouth vs Boreham Wood

The final tie of the fourth round, a trip to the south coast for Boreham Wood, who are 74 places below Bournemouth in the English football pyramid.

Boreham Wood impressively beat League One Wimbledon to get to the third round, while Bournemouth eased past National League Yeovil Town. If they can beat one National League side, surely they can do it at again?

Twitter – @BOREHAM_WOODFC

Boreham Wood will be hoping that’s not the case, and will be aiming to cause a similar upset to Kidderminster’s against Reading, could the magic of the FA Cup come alive again here?

One thing is for sure, it’ll be an exciting weekend of FA Cup action, hopefully with plenty of upsets, goals and drama.

Keep up to date with all the latest sports news on our live blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *