Back in January this year, we took a look at the history of the FA Cup competition, as well as previewing some of the great Third Round ties that were coming up that weekend.
Well, it just so happened that this weekend in question saw a number of giant-killing results, all of which made the Fourth Round all the more intriguing with a number of big teams being eliminated from the competition.
And now, this weekend sees those next set of games in the FA Cup set to be played.
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So before we take a closer look at the fourth round of matches, let’s first recap how those 32 Third Round ties finished.
FA Cup Third Round Results
- Manchester United 3-1 Everton
- Preston North End 3-1 Huddersfield Town
- Reading 2-0 Watford
- Tottenham 1-0 Portsmouth
- Gillingham 0-1 Leicester City
- Crystal Palace 1-2 Southampton
- Fleetwood 2-1 Queens Park Rangers
- Ipswich Town 4-1 Rotherham United
- Bournemouth 2-4 Burnley
- Blackpool 4-1 Nottingham Forest
- Chesterfield 3-3 West Brom
- Millwall 0-2 Sheffield United
- Boreham Wood 1-1 Accrington Stanley
- Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Sunderland
- Hull City 0-2 Fulham
- Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton
- Brentford 0-1 West Ham
- Coventry City 3-4 Wrexham
- Luton Town 1-1 Wigan Athletic
- Grimsby Town 1-0 Burton Albion
- Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Newcastle United
- Liverpool 2-2 Wolves
- Derby County 3-0 Barnsley
- Bristol City 1-1 Swansea City
- Cardiff City 2-2 Leeds United
- Stockport County 1-2 Walsall
- Hartlepool 0-3 Stoke City
- Norwich City 0-1 Blackburn Rovers
- Aston Villa 1-2 Stevenage
- Manchester City 4-0 Chelsea
- Oxford United 0-3 Arsenal
- Forest Green 1-2 Birmingham City
FA Cup Third Round Replays
- Swansea City 1-2 Bristol City
- Wigan Athletic 1-2 Luton Town
- Wolves 0-1 Liverpool
- West Brom 4-0 Chesterfield
- Leeds United 5-2 Cardiff City
- Accrington Stanley 1-0 Boreham Wood
The biggest shock came with Stevenage’s win over Aston Villa at Villa Park, but Bournemouth also lost at home to lower league opponents in the shape of Burnley while Nottingham Forest were thrashed by Blackpool and Newcastle were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by Sheffield Wednesday.
Non-league Wrexham also caused a shock, beating Coventry City 4-3 on the road while Everton, Wolves, Brentford, Chelsea and Crystal Palace were all eliminated by fellow Premier League opponents.
Those results meant that there was a real mix of teams from non-league Wrexham up to Premier League table topping Arsenal in the hat for the Fourth Round draw.
FA Cup Fourth Round Fixtures
Friday 27th January (8pm Kick Off)
- Manchester City v Arsenal
Saturday 28th January (3pm kick off unless otherwise stated)
- Walsall v Leicester City (12.30pm)
- Accrington Stanley v Leeds United (12.30pm)
- Sheffield Wednesday v Fleetwood
- Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City
- Southampton v Blackpool
- Ipswich Town v Burnley
- Bristol City v West Brom
- Luton Town v Grimsby Town
- Fulham v Sunderland
- Preston v Tottenham (6pm)
- Manchester United v Reading (8pm)
Sunday 29th January
- Brighton v Liverpool (1.30pm)
- Stoke City v Stevenage (2pm)
- Wrexham v Sheffield United (4.30pm)
Monday 30th January (7.45pm Kick Off)
- Derby County v West Ham United
FA Cup Fourth Round Preview And Tips
Man City v Arsenal
There is no doubt that the biggest game of the Fourth Round takes place on Friday night as the top two teams in the Premier League, Manchester City and Arsenal meet head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
The Gunners come into this game with a five-point lead over Manchester City, plus they also have a game in hand in the Premier League race too. City will therefore be hoping to strike a blow, even if it is just a psychological one by winning this game.
However, Arsenal’s form is better than City’s now and after their 3-2 win over Manchester United at the weekend, the Gunners will be more than ready for the challenge of taking on their closest rivals in the Premier League title race here.
I can’t see either manager playing a wildly under-strength team here given the wider context of the game, so this should be a real Friday Night cracker for everyone to enjoy.
City are 3/4 to win the game with bet365 Sport, while Arsenal are 16/5 outsiders. However, I feel the 16/5 on a draw and a replay may well be the most appealing option for most punters.
Preston V Tottenham
Could Spurs, who have been on a rocky run of form of late and who seem to have fallen out of love with manager Antonio Conte, be the next big name out of the competition as they face a tricky trip up north to take on Preston North End?
The Lilywhites are 11th in the Championship table and are not in great form, having lost three of their last five games. Defensively, they are solid, but they do struggle for goals.
Tottenham have also lost three of their last five, winning the other two and their problem has been keeping goals out with 31 conceded in the Premier League this season (more than Everton, Wolves and West Ham), but they do score plenty too, averaging almost two goals a game in the EPL.
Unsurprisingly, Preston are 8/1 outsiders to land the win here and I can see why that is the case and I agree with those odds as I can see Spurs winning this game and I like the look of Dejan Kulusevski to score at any time, which is a 7/4 shot with bet365.
Brighton v Liverpool
When these teams met a few weeks back, it was a humbling evening for Liverpool as Brighton ran out easy 3-0 winners with a performance of energy, vigour, pace and decisiveness that the Liverpool team just could not match.
They now meet again in the FA Cup, a competition where the Seagulls have beaten Liverpool twice, in 1983 and 1984, but it is Liverpool who have the better record in more recent FA Cup clashes between the two winning 3-2 in a replay in 1991 after a 2-2 draw and then winning 6-1 at Anfield in 2012.
However, Brighton have lost just one of the last six games against Liverpool, winning two of those and this is looking likely to be another very tough test for Jurgen Klopp’s men and I think we may have to go to a replay again to decide the winner.
As such, I’d back the draw here at 27/10 with bet365.
FA Cup Accumulator
My final tip is for an FA Cup Fourth Round accumulator bet where I would back the following:
- Leicester to beat Walsall – 1/3
- Blackburn to beat Birmingham – 11/8
- Burnley to beat Ipswich – 6/5
- West Ham to beat Derby – 13/20
At the current odds with bet365 shown above, this fourfold accumulator bet would return at odds of 10.49/1.
Good luck if you are going to enjoy any FA Cup Fourth Round bets this coming weekend!
