The Premier League takes a break but there’ll still be plenty of exciting football matches to look forward to in the FA Cup fifth round. You can bet on the FA Cup here.
Chelsea to struggle against Manchester United
Chelsea will look to banish that embarrassing 6-0 defeat to Manchester City when they host Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Monday in the FA Cup fifth round. Ole Gunnar Solkjaer’s team suffered their first defeat in 11 games at the hands of French champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Chelsea have been poor in recent games and still look a totally different team that started the season strongly. Chelsea rescued a point the last time these two English giants met in London. United have a terrible record at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea are in dire straits right now. Although United lost Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard to injury on Tuesday, they still possess enough quality to trouble the home side.
Manchester City ruthlessness in front of goal to continue
Champions Manchester City are unstoppable at the moment. They’ve already scored 12 goals in their last two FA Cup ties. This is looking like another drubbing from Premier League reigning champions to League Two side Newport County. This will be the first meeting between these two teams and Pep Guardiola will certainly tinker with his squad. However, the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus, who are likely to start, will cause the home side plenty of problems. Newport will have to be resolute in defence for the 90 minutes and will need to produce something very special to get something out of this game.
Upsets for Wolves and Brighton?
Wolves visit Bristol City in another Fifth-round FA Cup clash. The hosts have been on a terrific run of form. They haven’t lost a game since November and have climbed up the Sky Bet Championship table to fifth. Wolves had to work hard to progress from the fourth round. They have already eliminated Liverpool but Bristol pose a completely different challenge for them.
Brighton plays another strong Championship side Derby County at home. Both managers will look to make a few tweaks to their squads, but given they have come this far, they just might fieldfull-strengthh teams and have a real go. Despite a decent start to the Premier League season, Brighton’s form has deteriorated and pushed them into the relegation scrap. Derby eliminated Southampton in the fourth round on penalties last time out. The Rams also beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season, so they are not pushovers.
Watford’s FA Cup push to continue
Watford are sitting comfortably in eighth place in the Premier League, so Javi Gracia might want to go all out for this FA Cup tie away to QPR. Although they still won when he shuffled his pack in the last round, at Newcastle, Gracia will see this as an opportunity to go as far as possible in this competition. QPR endured a terrible start in the Championship but seasoned manager Steve McCLaren steadied the ship. They are yet to face to face a Premier League team but they knocked Championship leaders Leeds United out in the third round. However, Watford are a well-drilled side and whichever side is selected on Friday at Loftus Road should be good to come out on top.
Over 2.5 Goals at Swansea?
An all-Championship affair sees Swansea and Brentford clash in Wales on Sunday. Brentford have an awful away record. They’ve won just once away from home in the Championship. Four out of five games involving Brentford has seen three or more goals scored while Swansea’s three of the last five matches has seen Over 2.5 Goals scored. A thrilling match is in store in Wales since each team will want to go further in the competition.