My reaction to the FA Cup fourth round draw

ScoreLive January 9, 2024 0

Underwhelming, is my reaction to the FA Cup fourth round draw (ED: Full draw below).

Another away tie and at a Premier League club, no less, Fulham v Newcastle United.

Okay, maybe not as tricky as a trip to Spurs or Anfield, but this is definitely losable, Fulham having recently turned over Arsenal in the league at Craven Cottage, which shows they’re capable of an upset.

Last month, I wrote an article for The Mag lamenting our poor away form and yet I draw some comfort from the fact that our away form has been quite inspiring in the cup competitions this season, where we’ve won two, drawn three and lost only once.

That’s if you discount the penalty shootout at Stamford Bridge and only consider 90 minutes worth of football that evening.

And here’s the thing.

If you are prepared to go that far, with a small leap of the imagination, our away record in cup competitions could be even better – maybe coming in at four wins, one draw and one defeat; injury time equalisers at Chelsea and in Paris denying us famous victories right at the death.

In a season where we’ve won at Old Trafford and the Stadium of Light, drawn in London, Paris and Milan and only really lost when facing the famous Yellow Wall at the Signal Iduna, I really don’t think we have anything to fear from our trip to Fulham in the FA Cup at the end of the month.

HTL

Full FA Cup fourth-round draw

Watford v Southampton

Blackburn Rovers v Wrexham

Bournemouth v Swansea City

West Brom v Brentford or Wolves

West Ham or Bristol City v Nottingham Forest or Blackpool

Leicester City v Hull City or Birmingham City

Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry City

Chelsea v Aston Villa

Ipswich Town v Maidstone United

Liverpool v Norwich City or Bristol Rovers