Now that all the excitement of Round 3 has died down, we have the 4th round of the FA Cup announced with another pile of potentially interesting stories, and upsets we hope.
Round 3 was a little like our cupsets tips, almost interesting but not quite. League Two sides Wycombe, Exeter, Portsmouth and Northampton all got replays and Non League Eastleigh were unlucky not to beat the hapless Bolton. Oxford provided the biggest upset (which we tipped) against Swansea with a win over the EPL side.
A few Championship sides were knocked out by League One sides – Charlton by Colchester, Cardiff by Shrewsbury, Preston by Peterborough, Brentford by Walsall. Which means there’ll be plenty of “minnows” in Round 4.
Here is the full fixture list for Round 4. Man Utd get their 49th consecutive TV game, and is the early Saturday morning game for Oz fans. All the TV games have lower league team v EPL, except if Liverpool against West Ham.
It all looks set up for the big clubs to progress through to Round 5, with even a potential banana skin in Derby v Manchester Utd looking less so after a turnaround in form for each side in the opposite direction.
There are still 10 Championship sides left, 5 from League One and 3 from League Two. What’s better is that there are 5 games in Round 4 which feature no EPL sides which means more lower league sides still fighting in Round 5. Of those teams Sheffield Wednesday, Hull and last year’s semi finalists Reading look the most capable of progressing and annoying top flight clubs in Round 5.
On quick glance we’re looking at Nottingham Forest v Watford, Peterborough v West Brom, and even Arsenal v Burnley as the potential upsets.
DAY | MATCH | UK TIME |
FRI | Derby County V Manchester United | 19:55 |
SAT | Colchester V Tottenham | 12:45 |
SAT | Arsenal V Burnley | 15:00 |
SAT | Crystal Palace V Stoke | 15:00 |
SAT | Nottm Forest V Watford | 15:00 |
SAT | Oxford Utd V Blackburn | 15:00 |
SAT | Shrewsbury V Sheff Wed | 15:00 |
SAT | Portsmouth V Bournemouth | 15:00 |
SAT | Aston Villa V Man City | 15:00 |
SAT | Reading V Walsall | 15:00 |
SAT | Bolton V Leeds | 15:00 |
SAT | West Brom V Peterborough | 15:00 |
SAT | Bury V Hull | 15:00 |
SAT | Liverpool V West Ham | 17:30 |
SUN | Carlisle V Everton | 13:30 |
SUN | MK Dons V Chelsea | 16:00 |