Crawley Town have been handed the dream draw in the FA Cup fifth round as they take on Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Blue Square Bet Premier side beat Torquay on Saturday to make it through to the last 16 for the first time. Another fourth round giant-killing side, Leyton Orient, will be at home to Arsenal, while Notts County would face Aston Villa at home if they get past Manchester City in their replay.
Here’s how the fifth round is shaping up:
West Ham v Burnley
The Hammers have shown their cup pedigree with a run through to the Carling Cup semi-finals, where they were beaten by Birmingham last week (West Ham 25/1 outright).
Boss Avram Grant will probably be thinking, privately, that the last thing he wants is another extended cup run when his real priority is a) keeping his job and b) keeping the Hammers in the Premier League.
However, the Hammers have good strength in depth and will probably look to use their fringe players against the Claret, while hoping that the Upton Park faithful will spur them onto the last eight. West Ham beat Burnley 5-3 in the Premier League at Upton Park last season.
Burnley boss Eddie Howe is likely to regard the fifth round draw with mixed feelings. On the one hand, with West Ham’s struggles this season, it is a chance for a cup upset. On the other, Burnley don’t want to be side-tracked from their main target which is reaching the play-offs (Burnley 80/1 outright).
The Turf Moor side are just five points behind sixth-placed Leeds, with a game in hand. They are unbeaten in their last two away games, drawing 0-0 at Scunthorpe then beating Portsmouth 2-1 at Fratton Park.
Notts County/Manchester City v Aston Villa
Notts County will obviously feel that their one big chance of causing an upset came and went at Meadow Lane on Sunday (County 600/1 outright).
The League One outfit were just 10 minutes away from recording an historic cup upset when Edin Dzeko scored an equaliser, and now the trip to Eastlands will be very tricky for County.
It will be a chance for Lee Hughes, who has played at the highest level, to show that he can still outwit Premier League defences. But City should have the quality to come through and face Villa.
It will be an interesting match-up between a City team who have at long last laid down a title challenge versus a side who are still at the wrong end of the table.
City have already beaten Villa at home in the Premier League, Mario Balotelli scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win, so Villa will know the size of the task that awaits them (Man City 6/1 outright).
But after a torrid first half of the season, Villa have begun to spark into life and they beat City in the return fixture at Villa Park, when Marcus Bent scored on his debut earlier this month. The fact that this tie will be at Eastlands should give Roberto Mancini’s men the edge (Villa 18/1 outright).
Stoke City v Brighton
Stoke did not field their strongest side away to Wolves on Sunday but were still the better side and deserved their 1-0 win (Stoke 20/1 outright).
They reached the fifth round last season, beating Manchester City and Arsenal, but were then handed the dubious honour of travelling to Chelsea and got knocked out.
Manager Tony Pulis has made it clear that he does not regard the FA Cup as a priority this season – he wants his side to reach 40 points as quickly as possible to secure a fourth consecutive Premier League season.
However, Stoke have already reached the 30-point mark and are big outsiders in the relegation market. They have not excelled at home this season, losing to the likes of Fulham and Blackpool, but they should draw a reasonable crowd to this tie and the home crowd are capable of lifting them.
Brighton produced a cup upset by winning 1-0 at Watford on Saturday courtesy of Ashley Barnes’ 17th minute goal (Brighton 150/1 outright).
Brighton fans well remember how an extended cup run can ruin a league season – they reached the FA Cup final in 1983 but were relegated from the top flight. And Gus Poyet would much rather his side stay top of League One until the end of the season than earn a sixth round place.
The Seagulls are likely to give it a good go, but will not be devastated if they lose at the Britannia Stadium.
Birmingham City v Sheffield Wednesday
The Blues are in the Carling Cup final courtesy of their aggregate semi-final win over West Ham last week. And certainly they are more of a cup side this season than a Premier League success, unlike last term when they were terrifically hard to beat at St Andrews (Birmingham 16/1 outright).
This season, they have only been beaten by Everton and Arsenal at home in the league, but have drawn six of their 11 home games.
The Blues managed an excellent FA Cup run last season, only going out to eventual finalists Portsmouth in the sixth round.
It’s hard to see Wednesday making the League One playoffs this season – they are in 12th place with plenty of decent sides above them. However, their FA Cup progress has kept the fans, who had expected an immediate promotion back to the Championship, fairly happy (Wednesday 150/1 outright).
Wednesday have been big scorers in the FA Cup this season, winning 5-2 at Southport in the first round then putting three goals past Northampton and Bristol City to reach the fourth round. They had to come from behind against Hereford on Saturday but did so in style with Clinton Morrison getting two goals as they won 4-1.
The Owls have been hit and miss for the last few weeks – they thrashed Bristol Rovers 6-2 in mid-December then were humbled 5-1 at Exeter next time out.
Wednesday have goals in their side, especially from Neil Mellor, who has scored 13. But they are likely to find this tie a step too far.
Leyton Orient v Arsenal
Leyton Orient rode their luck to beat Swansea 2-1 on Saturday. The Welsh side dominated the game but Orient keeper Jamie Jones performed heroics and the game looked to be heading for a replay (Leyton Orient 1000/1 outright).
Two minutes from time, Swansea captain Alan Tate sliced into his own net to give the League One outfit a place in the fifth round.
Orient have only lost one of their last nine league games, while their FA Cup exploits have been impressive as they put out Norwich in the fourth round and had won 8-2 after extra time in their third round replay against Droylsden.
Scott McGleish and Alex Revell are their goal merchants, with 13 apiece in all competitions, and they will fancy a crack at the Gunners.
Arsenal were lucky to get past Huddersfield at the first attempt on Sunday, needing a late winner from Cesc Fabregas. But in the circumstances they will be happy to have gone through, having played with 10 men for more than half the game (Arsenal 7/2 outright).
The Gunners are the only team who can win all four major trophies this season, as they are in the last 16 of the Champions League as well as the Carling Cup final. They should be good enough to breeze past their London rivals.
Everton/Chelsea v Reading
Chelsea will be glad to have brought Everton back to Stamford Bridge for a replay after the teams drew 1-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday (Chelsea 5/1 outright).
Salomon Kalou scored after coming off the bench as Chelsea kept on course to become the first team to win three successive FA Cup titles since Blackburn in the 1880s.
With their Premier League defence now looking highly unlikely, the Blues will very much be targeting an FA Cup triumph in May and should see off Everton in the replay (Everton 20/1 outright).
Reading won 2-1 at Stevenage in the fourth round on Saturday, but only thanks to Shane Long’s winner two minutes from time (Reading 100/1 outright).
The victory is not to be taken lightly, given what happened to Newcastle at Stevenage in the previous round, but Reading are one of a number of clubs who would much prefer league success to a lengthy FA Cup run this season.
The Royals are only four points off the play-offs, with a game in hand over sixth-placed Leeds.
They have plenty of quality players, such as Long, skipper Ivar Ingimarsson, Jobie McAnuff and keeper Adam Federici. But it’s likely Federici will be picking the ball out of the net at least a couple of times as Reading go out at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United v Crawley Town
United are not a team likely to slip on any FA Cup banana skins, though their defeat to Leeds in last season’s competition shows it is just about possible (United 5/2 outright).
Leeds were on their way to promotion from League One, however, whereas Crawley are hoping just to break into the Football League.
United have so many quality players they can bring in that even if Sir Alex Ferguson decides to make wholesale changes from his regular Premier League team they will be formidable. They showed in beating Southampton 2-1 at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday that they are good enough and fit enough to run lesser teams ragged in the final third of the game.
It might be a cliché to say it, but this will be Crawley’s FA Cup final. They were united, after beating Torquay on Saturday, in saying they wanted to be drawn against a big club away from home (Crawley 1000/1 outright).
The gate receipts will boost Crawley’s promotion bid, so they cannot really lose. They stand second in the league, two points behind leaders AFC Wimbledon but with four games in hand.
They will be in dreamland just to run out onto the Old Trafford Pitch, but in reality they are surely heading for a heavy defeat.
Fulham v Bolton/Wigan
This is the only tie guaranteed to be an all-Premier League affair, though it may not get the pulses of the neutral racing.
Fulham played superbly to knock out Spurs on Sunday, so they will go into the fifth round tie full of confidence (Fulham 22/1 outright).
The Cottagers are on a run of just one defeat in the last five Premier League games, though they know they have to improve their home record which has seen them draw five of their nine fixtures at Craven Cottage.
Mark Hughes’ side are still too close to the relegation zone for comfort, but know all about how a cup run can lift the club after last season’s Europa League adventure.
Bolton have performed wonders this season under Owen Coyle, though their away form has suffered recently and they currently find themselves in the bottom half of the Premier League (Bolton 33/1 outright).
It’s five away defeats in a row for the Trotters at the moment, so they will not relish another away date.
Wigan, if they get through the replay, know how tough Fulham are at home as they lost 2-0 at Craven Cottage in October (Wigan 50/1 outright).
The Latics have only won once in the league in 11 matches and staying up is not just the main priority for the club, it’s the only thing that matters.
Fulham will start as heavy favourites for this tie, whoever they face.
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