Although I suppose, having said that, the fourth round draw didn’t exactly look much to write home about when it emerged but it ended up being a cracker of a weekend.
Anyway, that’s about that from here. Now head over here to join, um, me for live coverage of the final fourth round tie: Rochdale! Stoke! Fighting for the right to face Blackburn! It’s over here and it kicks off very shortly.
There’s no particular standout tie there really. Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been kept apart (replays pending of course) and Bradford’s reward for their heroics against Chelsea is a tie against either Fulham or Sunderland.
So to summarise: Crystal Palace v Liverpool or Bolton; Arsenal v Middlesbrough; Aston Villa v Leicester; West Brom v West Ham; Bradford City v Sunderland or Fulham; Blackburn v Rochdale or Stoke; Derby County v Reading; Preston North End or Sheffield United v Cambridge United or Manchester United.
Updated
Preston or Sheffield United v Cambridge v Manchester United.
Derby County v Reading.
Blackburn Rovers v Rochdale or Stoke.
Scant reward for the Bantams: Bradford City v Sunderland or Fulham.
Another all Premier League tie: West Bromwich Albion v West Ham.
Aston Villa v Leicester City.
The favourites are at home: Arsenal v Middlesbrough.
First out: Crystal Palace v Liverpool or Bolton.
Gary Lineker pours the balls into the bucket. He’ll be drawing the away teams, Alex Jones will be drawing the home teams.
Someone on a sofa: “I absolutely don’t care about football but after Saturday I even watched the highlights!”
Cut to outside TV Centre with a selection of fans. Somebody behind the camera flaps their arms so that the gathered supporters go “Wahaaayy!” in quiet, awkward fashion. “Oooh! I knew this was a bad idea!” Alan-Partridges Matt Baker.
Sheesh. Still. Here comes the draw.
“Evening John!” Evening Simon McMahon. “One of the best FA Cup weekends in recent history, and the draw is on Monday night during The One Show. Who said romance is dead?”
It may not be romantic, but it is definitely educational. I’ve learned all about Christopher Eccleston’s latest projects – they had a blast making Fortitude – and discovered that Romford is the luckiest place in the UK. Seriously, though, it’s dismal isn’t it?
As is the way of these things these days, the FA Cup draw is a subsection of BBC One’s The One Show. Christopher Eccleston is currently telling Alex Jones and Matt Baker about his new TV series. Which is nice.
Updated
The balls!
1. Crystal Palace
2. Cambridge United or Manchester United
3. Blackburn Rovers
4. Bradford City
5. Derby County
6. Preston North End or Sheffield United
7. West Bromwich Albion
8. Aston Villa
9. Reading
10. Liverpool or Bolton Wanderers
11. Leicester City
12. Arsenal
13. Rochdale or Stoke City
14. Sunderland or Fulham
15. West Ham United
16. Middlesbrough
Updated
Preamble
What a weekend! Chelsea: out. Manchester City: out. Southampton: out. Tottenham: out. Liverpool and Manchester United facing replays. It means Arsenal are the bookies’ favourites to retain the Cup and that only 10 of the 23 teams in the hat for the fifth round are from the Premier League.
Still feeling the need to catch up on the weekend action? Check out our weekend talking points blog! And here’s the Football Weekly gang reviewing all the shocks. Wowzers McTrousers indeed.
