Monday January 5, 2009 10:15

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

Posted by The Soccer Blogger as FA Cup

Well it didn’t take too long for the 4th Round Draw of the FA Cup to conjure up one of those glamour ties that all fans and neutrals alike simply love. Putting it bluntly, it doesn’t get too much better than Liverpool v Everton in the Cup.

Couple that with the fact that 2009 is the 20th anniversary of The Hillsbororugh Disaster where 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives moments after the kick-off of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. Not only that but Liverpool fittingly went on the play their locals rivals in a classic final and it all just adds to the expectancy of this great rivalry. As quite often happens, the FA Cup game will be the second time the two sides meet at Anfield in the space of a week as Everton play Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby League fixture the Monday evening before.

The second tie out of the hat wasn’t too bad either. For the second time in two years Tottenham Hotspur will have to travel to Old Trafford to play Man Utd after they beat Southampton on Sunday 3 - 0 in a replay of the 1976 Final in which the then 2nd Division Southampton pulled one of those shock results that make the FA Cup the most special cup competition in the world.

Of course this year the Utd v Spurs tie has the added spice that Harry Redknapp, the current FA Cup winning manager with Portsmouth, is now at the helm at Spurs. Harry is going to have his work cut out to hold onto the famous old trophy this season, but as this competition always does, as some of the results this weekend again proved, nothing is sure in the FA Cup and Spurs will be more than capable of getting some sort of a result against Man Utd. But whatever the outcome, those first two draws alone are “worth the money” so to speak!

In other eye catching ties, last years beaten finalists Cardiff City have a plum draw at home to Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. London rivals Chelsea will of course, first have to travel to Southend for a reply after the lower league team dramatically snapped a late equaliser at Stamford Bridge. If Chelsea safely negotiate that, they will play host to Ipswich. Is it me, or are things not quite right at Chelsea at the moment? No disrespect to Southend, and I think it goes deeper than that, but Chelsea should have easily won that game and they are not firing properly in the League either in my opinion even though they are in second place. ”Big Phil” Scolari certainly has his work cut out this season!

Two more great looking ties are Torquay Utd earning a home game against Premiership opposition in the form of Fulham and an East Midlands derby between Derby County and Nottingham Forest, the 3 - 0 winners against a forlorn looking Mark Hughes’ Manchester City, the true enigmas of English football despite all their apparent money. Who will they be buying apart from Wayne Bridge in the next few weeks?According to all the “rubbish” in the papers, it could be just about every and any player you would like to mention. Bridge though must have been wondering what he has let himself in for as he sat in the stands watching his new team crumble without a whimper in the Cup. He was probably thinking before hand that with not being Cup tied, he was in for a good run in this season’s competition, wrong!

Here is the full draw for the FA Cup 4th Round, the games will be played the weekend of 24th / 25th January and I for one can’t wait, especially for those first two draws.

Liverpool v Everton
Man Utd v Tottenham Hotspur
Hull or Newcastle v Millwall or Crewe
Sunderland v Blyth Spartans or Blackburn
Hartlepool v West Ham
Leyton Orient or Sheff Utd v Charlton or Norwich
Cardiff City v Arsenal
Portsmouth or Bristol City v Histon or Swansea
Chelsea or Southend v Ipswich
Cheltenham or Doncaster v Aston Villa
WBA or Peterborough v QPR or Burnley
Torquay United v Coventry City
Kettering Town v Fulham
Watford v Leicester or Crystal Palace
Derby v Nottingham Forest
Birmingham or Wolves v Middlesbrough

Cheers

Rik

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