Eddie Howe and Newcastle United will tonight find out their fifth round opponents in this season’s FA Cup, with another all-Premier League tie looking likely.
So far, we’ve seen off tough challenges from both Bournemouth and Aston Villa, and after the disappointing end to our Carabao Cup defence, the lads will be craving another opportunity at silverware.
Winning the FA Cup also offers a guarantee of European football next season, as the winner will automatically get a place in the 2026/27 Europa League.
Here’s who we could face in Monday evening’s draw, with Newcastle ball 13 following our 3-1 win at Villa on Saturday.
Of our 15 potential opponents, at least nine of them will be from the Premier League, including each of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and North East rivals Sunderland.
A 10th will be added should Brentford get past Macclesfield, who caused one of the biggest upsets in cup history when they knocked out Crystal Palace in the third round.
Should we draw the winner of Port Vale vs Bristol City, we won’t find out who our opponents will be until the 3rd of March, after their fourth round tie was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
See the ball numbers below ahead of the draw, due to take place just after 6.30pm on TNT Sports and their Youtube channel.
1. Liverpool
2. Fulham
3. Sunderland
4. Southampton
5. Wrexham
6. Arsenal
7. Chelsea
8. West Ham United
9. Mansfield Town
10. Norwich City
11. Port Vale or Bristol City
12. Wolverhampton Wanderers
13. Newcastle United
14. Manchester City
15. Macclesfield or Brentford
16. Leeds United
The fifth round of this year’s competition will take place on the weekend of the 7th of March.
Our last 16 encounter will be sandwiched between our midweek league game at home to Manchester United (4th March), and our trip to Chelsea on Saturday 14th March.
So this game will come at perhaps the worst possible time for Howe and the squad, already stretched thin due to injury and fatigued from the intense fixture list, with two tough Premier League games falling either side.
But should we go into the fifth round tie some way away from the top six in the league table, then it may be the wise choice for Howe to increase the team’s focus on the FA Cup; perhaps our best hope of silverware and Europa League football.
Add Comment