Bristol Rovers v Southampton
Cardiff City v Wolves
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Barnsley
Manchester United v Arsenal
Preston v Portsmouth
Coventry City v West Brom
Chelsea v Huddersfield Town
The headline is clearly the Arsenal v Manchester United. The game will be at Old Trafford giving Manchester United the edge. This draw will pose Arsenal some issues and here is why -
They are out of the Carling Cup (getting drilled by Tottenham), in a dog fight with Manchester United for the Premiership title with Chelsea creeping up, and face a tough draw in the Champions League against Milan. If Arsenal lose to ManU in the FA cup, they might find themselves trophy-less once again. While it is good that Wenger finds and develops youth, at what point will trophies become more important than keeping true to the youth movement? With Chelsea and Manchester United willing to spend what it takes to secure more seasoned players for their title chase, at some point the North Londoners need to open the wallet to acquire some veterans. Of course Arsenal could win the Premiership, beat ManU in the FA cup - go on a run to win the FA cup and do something in the Champions League....but they might also crash out of all the silverware chase as they did last season in a matter of a week.
Other matches - Liverpool and Chelsea seem to have a clear path to the next round. The only other team I see contending for the FA Cup is Portsmouth...that is if they can survive long enough to get back their players tied up in the African Cup tournament.
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