Well that was a bore draw if ever I saw one. The tie of the round? You’re guess is as good as mine. Tottenham v Wycombe and Chelsea v Brentford would both have been more interesting if the Premier League sides had been drawn away, and there is a chance that Bolton could host Manchester City and Norwich may welcome Arsenal, but replays could scupper those clashes. I’ll leave you with this thought from David in Bristol:
“Could this be FINALLY the time the TV rights holders don’t show Manchester United live...? we live in hope”
Thanks for your time. I’m off to work
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Crystal Palace or Bolton v Manchester City
Middlesbrough v Accrington Stanley
Fulham v Hull City
Blackburn v Barnsley or Blackpool
Burnley or Sunderland v Fleetwood or Bristol City
Rochdale v Huddersfield Town
Millwall v Watford
Manchester United v Wigan Athletic
Chelsea v Brentford
Lincoln or Ipswich v Brighton
Southampton or Norwich v Arsenal
Plymouth or Liverpool v Wolves
AFC Wimbledon or Sutton v Cambridge or Leeds
Oxford United v Newcastle or Birmingham
Derby County v Leicester City
Tottenham v Wycombe
Here comes the draw. Owen and Keown are grinning in anticipation. Apparently little Micky has even brought his mum tonight for moral support. Surely not? Tough gig this one
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Plymouth’s chief executive is on the mic. He claims to have predicted a 0-0 draw at Anfield and is confident of victory in the replay. He says Plymouth was very quiet this morning after the celebrations of last night.
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The draw is being coming live from the home of Sutton United, with four of their players lined up in front of a load of rowdy fans to offer their views on tonight’s goings on. Andy Lock doesn’t seem impressed though, having emailed me with this opinion. Or is it just fact?
“The FA Cup draw is a load of balls”
Martin Keown and Michael Owen will be pulling out the numbers. Both FA Cup winners yes, but entertainers they certainly are not. Oh well, at least the draw is not on The One Show any more. That really was painful. Did anyone on the planet think that was a good idea?
Managers are often accused of putting pressure on referees before big games, but Sutton’s Paul Doswell has taken things a step further, putting pressure on the BBC. After sitting through some deathly predictable action this weekend, you’d have to say the man’s got a point …
The lowest side left in this year’s competition are Sutton United, no strangers to FA Cup giantkilling of course. They held League One AFC Wimbledon to a draw at Gander Green Lane on Saturday. Sutton’s National league rivals Lincoln City are the only other non-league side in the draw. Top of English football’s fifth tier, the Imps are looking good for a return to the football league and will be licking their lips after outplaying Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday before being forced to settle for a replay.
Here are the numbers:
1 Ipswich Town or Lincoln City
2 Rochdale
3 Manchester United
4 Hull City
5 Sunderland or Burnley
6 Blackburn Rovers
7 Millwall
8 Manchester City
9 Brighton & Hove Albion
10 Blackpool or Barnsley
11 Wigan Athletic
12 Birmingham City or Newcastle United
13 Chelsea
14 Middlesbrough
15 Derby County
16 Leicester City
17 Liverpool or Plymouth Argyle
18 Wycombe Wanderers
19 Watford
20 Arsenal
21 Fulham
22 Wolverhampton Wanderers
23 Cambridge United or Leeds United
24 Bristol City or Fleetwood Town
25 Huddersfield Town
26 Tottenham Hotspur
27 Brentford
28 Bolton Wanderers or Crystal Palace
29 Norwich City or Southampton
30 Sutton United or AFC Wimbledon
31 Accrington Stanley
32 Oxford United
Preamble
Hello and welcome. The FA Cup itself may or may not be what it once was, depending on who you talk to, but we all still love the draw don’t we. Don’t we? This is where the real magic happens. The anticipation, the excitement, and the crushing disappointment when you are drawn away to a fellow League Two side four places above you in 14th. Romance was hard to come by in the third round this year, until the Pilgrims of Plymouth pitched up on the sacred Anfield turf and walked off with a replay. They’ll have to go some to beat Jürgen Klopp’s whippersnappers at Home Park, but that won’t stop their players doing a spontaneous pile on in the clubhouse bar if they draw Manchester United in round four tonight. The TV companies would be delighted too – and desperate for Argyle to lose the replay. Oh the magic.
The draw begins at: 7.10pm GMT.
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