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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Rob Smyth

Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle (3-4 pens), Luton 2-6 Manchester City: FA Cup fifth round – as it happened

Blackburn (Organization) Luton Newcastle (Organization) Manchester City FA Cup Bournemouth Leicester (Geopolitical Entity) Leicester City
Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Dubravka of Newcastle United celebrate following the penalty shootout win over Blackburn.
Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Dubravka of Newcastle United celebrate following the penalty shootout win over Blackburn. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

And with that, it’s time to say goodnight. The links to our match reports are below. Thanks for your company and emails – bye!

Updated

Both sets of players are still on the field applauding their fans. Blackburn’s young side contributed so much to an increasingly exciting game; on that form there is no chance they’ll be relegated.

Updated

Full time: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle (3-4 pens) Dubravka dived to his right to push Hyam’s penalty onto the post and away to safety. Fine margins, eh. Eddie Howe puffs out his cheeks as he walks onto the field to congratulate his players. He’s usually so poker-faced but right now his face is a picture of relief.

Newcastle win 4-3 on penalties!

Hyam misses! It’s saved by Dubravka and Newcastle have survived an almighty scare!

Updated

Gordon scores! Blackburn 3-4 Newcastle Straight down the middle, very calm, and Newcastle have match point.

Updated

Ayari scores! Blackburn 3-3 Newcastle Absurdly nonchalant: a little Jorginho hop as he sends Dubravka the wrong way. It’s effectively sudden death.

Anderson scores! Blackburn 2-3 Newcastle Elliot Anderson was brought on to take a penalty – and that’s why. He bulleted it into the side netting to his left.

Sigurdsson scores! Blackburn 2-2 Newcastle A fine penalty, whacked into the bottom-left corner. Dubravka has gone the right way for all three Blackburn kicks.

Guimaraes scores! Blackburn 1-2 Newcastle Cool and emphatic.

Brittain scores! Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Excellent penalty. No run-up but he cracked it into the bottom-left corner.

Barnes misses! Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle Another imperfect penalty, and this time Pears dives to his left to push it away.

Szmodics misses! Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle Not a great penalty, and Dubravka gets down to his right to save.

Updated

Schar scores! Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle Nonchalant beyond belief. He waited for Pears to go and passed the ball very, very slowly into the corner.

Newcastle will kick first, Fabian Schar to be precise. And the penalties will be taken in front of the Newcastle fans.

They’re playing it again now, and it sounds glorious

Updated

Match report: Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester

Full time: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle

Yep, penalties.

120 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Szmodics has done his hamstring, which will make taking a penalty more than a little problematic. We’re 30 seconds away from penalties.

116 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Dilan Markanday, whose shot against the bar led to the equaliser, draws a foul with some lovely footwork. Blackburn have some really good young footballers.

116 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Elliot Anderson has come on to replace Lewis Miley, who only came in the 62nd minute. That’s presumably with penalties in mind, even if it’s a bit early.

114 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Newcastle have found a second wind from somewhere and are really pushing for a winner. Barnes cuts inside from the left and wallops just over from 25 yards. The keeper had it covered but it was a nice effort.

113 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle And now Dubravka makes a superb save with his trailing leg to deny Szmodics! This is pulsating stuff.

112 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Another great chance for Newcastle! Guimaraes’s shot is blocked on the line by Wharton, with the keeper out of the game, and Barnes slashes the rebound into the side netting.

110 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle “Ewood ‘Park’ looks amazing,” says James Paraskevas. “Great job on the renos. As for Newcastle and Eddie Howe - they just need a win. I predict Dubravka will score the winning penalty.”

A penalty competition looks increasingly likely I suppose it’s good news for Newcastle that the two players who missed in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, Kieran Trippier and Matt Ritchie, aren’t on the field.

Half time in extra time: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle

At the risk of stating the offensively obvious, Newcastle don’t want this to go to penalties.

104 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle It’s all Newcastle now. Barnes’ deflected header from Gordon’s corner is pushed round the post by Pears. It might have been going wide anyway but he didn’t faff around.

103 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Pears makes a marvellous double save! A well-meaning interception from Chrisene went straight to Gordon, 10 yards out. His low shot was blocked by the outstretched right leg of Pears, who scrambled to his feet to dive the other way and saw Longstaff’s follow-up clear.

Longstaff in particular should have done better but it was still brilliant goalkeeping.

Updated

101 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle “Eddie Howe owes Martin Dubravka big time,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “It just feels like there’s so much riding on this extra time period for the gaffer. I fear the worst: the body language of the players (Trippier, Schar) looks all wrong, and not for the first time this season. Howe needs his leaders to stand up here in the Shefki Kuqi Testimonial.”

They’ve looked tired all season haven’t they? The workload and injury list haven’t helped but they don’t fully explain it. That said, as a neutral I think Howe has lenty of credit left in the bank. Or at least should have: I realise in the modern game it’s normal to sack managers willy-nilly.

98 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Longstaff’s clever pass into the area is collected by Miley, whose shot is superbly blocked by the lunging Hyam. That may well have been going in.

“Nice reference to some classic Barry Davies here: ‘Kovacic…uses Haaland by not using him’,” writes Martin Widdicks. “He really was at the top of his game from 1990-1992 from Omam-Biyik all the way to Brolin (Dahlin, Brolin) via the schoolboys own stuff.”

And a whole load of lovely goals, lovely goals!

Match report: Luton 2-6 Man City

Manchester City’s next game: Manchester United, at home.

Full time: Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester

There will be at least two Championship sides in the last eight of the FA Cup. Leicester have joined Coventry thanks to an explosive stroke from Abdul Fatawu.

91 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Extra-time is underway. Newcastle have brought on Tino Livramento for Kieran Trippier.

118 min: Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester Leicester, the winners in 2021, are couple of minutes away from a quarter-final place.

Full time: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle

Extra time at Ewood Park. This is getting very hairy for Newcastle, who are struggling to deal with a vibrant Blackburn side. As Alan Shearer says on the BBC, their energy levels look really low compared to last season.

Full time: Luton 2-6 Man City

Erling Haaland scored F-I-V-E goals, four of them put on a plate by Kevin De Bruyne, as City romped into the quarter-finals. Luton played well going forward too, with Jordan Clark scoring two excellent goals. Sadly for him, that beast scored five.

90+3 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle Dubravka makes a crucial late save! The substitute Dilan Markanday’s shot from 22 yards took a big deflection and almost wrongfooted Dubravka, who managed to adjust his body to make a vital stop with his legs.

109 min: Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester A dainty chip from Jannik Vestergaard, who was through on goal in open play, is headed off the line by Alex Scott. That’s surely kept Bournemouth in the Emirates FA Cup 2023-24!

Updated

90 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle The substitute Harvey Barnes can’t control an admittedly awkward ball from Guimaraes on the run. Had he done so he would have been through on goal.

Five minutes of added time.

87 min: Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle The indefatigable Szmodics has a shot from a tight angle which Dubravka saves a little awkwardly. Blackburn have competed admirably all night.

The latest scores

  • Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester (106 min)

  • Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle (87 min)

  • Luton 2-6 Man City (84 min)

GOAL! Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester (Fatawu 106)

Abdul Fatawu has scored an actual goal at the Vitality Stadium! It was a cracker, too, vroomed into the far corner from 25 yards. Mark Travers got a hand on it but couldn’t keep it out.

Updated

Lascelles misjudged the bounce of the ball, which allowed Sigurdsson to get away down the left. He cut the ball back to Markanday, whose ferocious first-time shot was brilliantly tipped onto the underside of the bar by Dubravka. Time stood still as the ball bounced out in front of an open goal – until Szmodics got to it a split-second before Guimares and knocked it into the net.

Updated

GOAL! Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle (Szmodics 79)

Sammie Szmodics equalises for Blackburn!

Updated

76 min: Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle Bruno Guimaraes isn’t penalised for an interesting challenge, both feet off the ground. I think it was low enough to preclude any VAR intervention, though I’d like to see a replay before I double down on that opinion.

GOAL! Luton 2-6 Man City (Kovacic 72)

And to think City have been struggling to score goals. Kovacic runs onto a clever pass from Stones, uses Haaland by not using him and wobbles a 25-yarder past Krul.

75 min: Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle Schar isn’t booked despite a brazen handball; the referee played advantage, I think, but then didn’t go back to show a yellow card.

The latest scores

  • Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester (96 min)

  • Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle (73 min)

  • Luton 2-5 Man City (70 min)

Updated

GOAL! Blackburn 0-1 Newcastle (Gordon 71)

It was starting to come. Miguel Almiron cuts inside from the right and slides the ball back to Gordon, who sidefoots decisively past Pears from 10 yards. That’s a good goal. Newcastle have been so much better in the second half.

Updated

69 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle Anthony Gordon has just spurned a one-on-one for Newcastle, who are starting to take control. His shot was too close to Aynsley Pears, who charged from his line to make a good block.

64 min: Luton 2-5 Man City Ross Barkley, who is so damn hot right now, draws a terrific fingerip save from Ortega Moreno with a curling shot towards the far corner. The resulting corner almost leads to a goal too: Barkley flicks it on and it his the chest of Chong, three yards out, and goes into the hands of Ortega Moreno.

63 min: Luton 2-5 Man City “I wrote in the other day with some gently anti-Luton nonsense, so please allow me to atone,” writes Mac Millings. “You’ve really got to admire this side, haven’t you? 3-0 down to City, Premier League-era Watford would have capitulated (and did, on a regular basis), and ended up losing somewhere between 6 and 8 nothing. Ah...as I type, City have scored again, and might go on to get a hat(ters)ful, but the point stands. If only Watford could have found a manager like Rob Edwards, instead of finding a manager like Rob Edwards and then binning him after a dozen games...”

Full time: Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester

This is awful. I am delirious. 36 shots, eight on target, two against woodwork, 0 quality.

60 min: Luton 2-5 Erling Haaland

Anyone heard from Ted MacDougall?

GOAL! Luton 2-5 Man City (Haaland 58)

Five goals for Erling Haaland! This time it was made by Bernardo Silva, who played a simple pass to him on the edge of the area. Haaland battered a low shot that went straight through Tim Krul. He should have saved it but, well, he didn’t.

Updated

60 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle While I was reporting that Haaland goal there was an almighty scramble in the blackburn six-yard box following a corner. Lascelles had a header kicked off the line and Blackburn eventually managed to force the ball to safety.

Updated

Erling Haaland gets his fourth goal, all of them created by Kevin De Bruyne. Walker stabbed a lovely pass that put De Bruyne clear on the right of the area; he looked up and slid a low cross that took Krul out of the game and gave Haaland an open goal.

GOAL! Luton 2-4 Man City (Haaland 55)

Oh well.

Updated

53 min: Luton 2-3 Man City That Barkley scoop was vaguely reminiscent of Dennis Bergkamp’s pornographic assist against Juventus in 2001.

It’s now Jordan Clark 2-3 Erling Haaland. A poor clearance from Ortega Moreno went straight to Barkley, 20 yards out. Barkley’s shot was blocked but the ball came back to him and he scooped a gorgeous ball to Clark, who chested it down and slammed it into the roof of the net.

GOAL! Luton 2-3 Man City (Clark 52)

The spirit in this Luton team!

Updated

85 min: Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester “End to end with very little to show in front of goal for both teams,” writes our unpaid correspondent Justin Madson. “Hats off to Enes Unal, who’s first full debut included a missed free kick and a yellow card for a poor lunge, which resulted in him getting yanked at halftime for Semenyo. Not what the social media team was hoping for I’m sure.”

54 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle “It’s crazy to think that despite his widespread unpopularity, Souness got so close to two major bits of silverware (Uefa Cup and FA Cup...same season, same week in fact) and at one point had a strike pairing of Owen and Shearer,” says Chris Paraskevas. “But I think he never quite understood the region or club, despite a number of his own critiques hitting on some ugly truths.

“Before he was appointed more exotic names like a certain Rafael Benitez were being thrown around as alternatives. Talk about sliding-doors moments... instead we got The Rumble In The J̶u̶n̶g̶l̶e̶ Cathedral.”

Was the sacking of Bobby Robson as egregious as it seemed at the time? I know they had a bad start to the season but it was only, what, four games?

52 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle Blackburn are playing some good stuff. After a long passing move, Buckley sweeps a nonchalant shot from 22 yards that is pushed away by the diving Dubravka. That’s a decent save becuase I reckon he saw it late.

68 min: Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester The BBC are showing some highlights from this game. Things we missed: Marc Albrighton and Marcos Senesi both hit the post, Senesi with a curling cross that missed everybody in the middle.

Updated

The latest scores

  • Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester (66 min)

  • Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle (HT)

  • Luton 1-3 Man City (HT)

“Whenever I see mention of the Blackburn No8,” begins Adam Roberts, “I think of one thing.”

And once something like that gets in your head… I can’t watch Timothy Castagne play for Leicester without hearing this.

Half time: Luton 1-3 Haaland

A hat-trick of almost chilling simplicity from Erling Haaland has put Manchester City in charge at Kenilworth Road. Kevin De Bruyne, strolling round the field like a superior species, made all three goals.

Half time: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle

Cagey but interesting fare at Ewood Park. Blackburn have had the better chances on the break, not that there have been many for either side. On the admittedly slim evidence of 45 minutes while also trying to follow two other games, Blackburn look a well-coached side – especially as John Eustace has only been in charge for a couple of weeks.

GOAL! Luton 1-3 Man City (Clark 44)

Crikey, what a fine goal. Barkley flicks the ball back to Jordan Clark, 25 yards from goal and with Bernardo Silva pressing him. He shifts the ball past Silva, to his right, and crashes a spectacular dipping shot that flies into the top corner. That was a bit like a Juninho free-kick, only in open play.

Updated

44 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle Moran, who looks a fine player, clips a 30-yard pass to leave Szmodics one v one with Schar on the edge of the area. He moves the ball to his left and batters a shot that is tipped over by Dubravka. It was straight above his head, which made it a comfortable save, but Blackburn look the more dangerous team right now.

GOAL! Luton 0-3 Man City (Haaland 41)

A hat-trick for Erling Haaland, and a hat-trick of assists for Kevin De Bruyne. It was similar to the second goal: through ball, green grass, Haaland’s speed. This time he dinked the ball slowly over Krul, and why not.

VAR tried to get busy but Haaland timed his run and was onside.

Updated

39 min: Luton 0-2 Man City Both teams have lost a player to injury. Luton are bringing on Joe Johnson for Amari’i Bell; City have replaced a tearful Jack Grealish with Jeremy Doku. It looks like a recurrence of Grealish’s groin injury; poor guy has had a miserable season.

38 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle Blackburn are allowing to Newcastle to have the ball, knowing they can hurt them on the break. Newcastle look a bit sluggish.

35 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle “Peter, your Dr. Strangelove approach to mozzie control sounds more effective than my strategy of playing dead and switching the lights on in an attempt to ‘catch’ the mosquito as soon as I hear it starting another attack run.

“This game could use a bit of Godzilla’s directness. Too much faffing about and sideways passing. I can feel Graeme Souness’s disdain for modern football from the Southern Hemisphere...”

That’s because he’s in your house mate. The buzzing you can hear in the lounge isn’t a mosquito, it’s Souey reflecting on the last time Newcastle reached an FA Cup semi-final.

Updated

32 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle As would that. The resulting corner is clipped to Szmodics, 25 yards out. He takes the ball on his chest and whistles a sweet drive that is close to Dubravka.

Moments later, at the other end, Longstaff’s shot on the turn from a very tight angle kis kicked behind by the keeper Aynsley Pears.

31 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle Dubravka makes a fine save! Moran moves forward from midfield and finds Dolan on the right side of the area. He drills a low cross shot that is fingertipped round the post by Dubravka. Szmodics was waiting behind him to score, though he was offside. Dolan’s shot could have gone straight in though, and that would have counted.

Updated

30 min: Luton 0-2 Man City De Bruyne’s volley is smartly saved by Krul, plunging to his right, and he gets to his feet to save Haaland’s follow-up. Haaland probably should have scored. Has Pep taken him as far as he can?

27 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle A very good chance for Blackburn. Buckley chests an awkward ball lazily, thrillingly away from Bruno Guimaraes before putting Szmodics through on goal with a lovely angled pass. Szmodics’ first touch takes him slightly wide and he splatters a rising drive into the side netting.

Not a dreadful miss, but a miss nonetheless. The set-up from John Buckley was delightful, the kind of think that has you rushing to buy him for Real Madrid on your latest game of Football Manager. You’ll make a star of him, yeah you will.

Updated

25 min: Luton 0-2 Man City Haaland is denied a hat-trick, at least for the next few minutes, by a good save from Krul.

24 min: BBR 0-0 Newcastle The atmosphere sounds really good at Ewood Park. Neither team has had a shot on target but it looks a lively enough game.

“If I could just join Brendan Large in some pedantry,” says David Flynn, “the BBC have gone with BBR as an abbreviation for Blackburn on their onscreen scoreboard, rather than the clearly more acceptable BLA.”

What do you expect of such a woke outfit? They won’t even advocate the cold-blooded murder of mosquitoes.

The latest scores

  • Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester (HT)

  • Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle (8pm)

  • Luton 0-2 Man City (8pm)

Updated

Half time: Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester I don’t know what else to tell you, mainly because I only have two TV screens and they’ve been showing Blackburn and Luton since 8pm.

GOAL! Luton 0-2 Man City (Haaland 18)

And it’s definitely good night from Luton. The keeper Ortega Moreno goes long to Haaland, who touches the ball off to De Bruyne in the centre circle. He has a quick touch and slides a return pass into the beautiful open space behind the Luton defence.

Haaland gallops into it and forces a shot through Krul. That was devastating in its simplicty and economy. I think there were only five touches from the moment the ball left Ortega Moreno’s boot.

Updated

Match delayed: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle Blackburn look lively, and given Newcastle’s mood the first goal feels particularly valuable.

There’s a delay of around 60 seconds when the home fans throw a load of tennis balls on the field to protest against 14 years of Venky’s ownership. Surely a few chicken lollipos would have been more eye-catching.

Updated

Match report: England 5-1 Italy

In other news, England trounced Italy in Spain earlier this evening. Suzanne Wrack was there.

13 min: Luton 0-1 Man City Luton have responded really well to going behind, though you do get the feeling that Kevin De Bruyne could score or make a goal to order. It’s a decent game.

11 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle “I’d like to make amends by offering Chris Paraskevas this hot tip for defeating mosquitoes in the bedroom,” says Peter Oh. “Use an insect-killing racquet, channel your inner Godzilla and Andy Murray, and zap the living daylights out of the flying bugger.”

There goes the Guardian’s proud reputation for wokery.

8 min: Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle “The two most prominent artworks in my room are a signed Alan Shearer Testimonial Scarf (probably the best Newcastle game of the last 20 years) and a signed photo of Shola Ameobi that permanently sits on my bedside table (which has possibly cursed our entire season),” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Now I feel really old. Thanks Peter.”

7 min: Luton 0-1 Man City Two chances in quick succession for Carlton Morris, both from crosses by Alfie Doughty. He fresh-aired the first and the second was very well blocked by Nathan Ake.

That was such a simple goal; the ball barely left the floor. Nunes cut inside from the left and found De Bruyne, surging beyond a defender and into the area. He pulled the ball back to Haaland, who screwed a shot into the ground and past Krul.

Updated

GOAL! Luton 0-1 Man City (Haaland 4)

And it’s goodnight from Luton. (Probably.)

“There’s something endearingly cheerful about the young man in the Blackburn Rovers picture,” writes Charles Antaki. “The toothy grin, the 1920s haircut, and the classic blue and white halves of the shirt. Good stuff. I imagine that all the rest of him and his clobber is achingly 21st-century, but what we can see is pleasingly old-fashioned.”

The two 8pm games are under way, and these are the latest scores.

  • Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester (7.30pm)

  • Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle (8pm)

  • Luton 0-0 Man City (8pm)

22 min: Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester Now Alex Scott has missed an excellent chance for Bournemouth, screwing a shot over the bar from 10 yards after a cut back from Luis Sinisterra.

18 min: Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester This is a decent game, being played at a good pace. Bournemouth’s Turkish striker Enes Unal has just had a shot cleared off the line by Hamza Choudhury.

“With no disrespect to Chris Paraskevas and Zurab Khizanishvili,” says Peter Oh, “surely this is the Alan Shearer Derby?”

Oh, Peter. I think that was the joke. Either that or Chris is 17 years old and has never heard of Alan Shearer, or indeed Andy Cole.

Updated

The joys of social media

There are no replays in the fifth round of the FA Cup. But games can go to extra-time and penalties if necessary.

Blackburn v Newcastle The kick-off has been delayed by 15 minutes due to crowd congestion, so that match will also began at 8pm.

Blackburn v Newcastle

“G’day Rob,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Some housekeeping before I bombard you with updates from The Zurab Khizanishvili Derby...
a) I’ve only had one major argument with a neighbour since we last spoke (it was bigger and better than the last one...)
b) A single mosqito infiltrated my bedroom and kept me awake all night. Couldn’t outsmart him.
c) Eddie Howe is definitely/possibly in save-your-season/job territory tonight. What a difference 12 months makes in football, eh?”

Innit. The Carabao Cup final was a year ago yesterday.

The ills of social media

“Am I the only one very annoyed by Luton’s team announcement tweet!?” says Brendan Large. “It’s bad enough when clubs tweet teams in the order of their squad numbers (instead of position), but doing so without even including the numbers is a new low in my eyes... for shame Luton.”

At least they’ve put them in order of position though. Every cloud?

Peep peep! Bournemouth v Leicester is under way, and Leicester are already threatening.

Luton v Man City team news

Both managers have picked very strong sides, with only two outfield changes apiece. Jack Grealish gets a chance to impress Pep Guardiola.

https://twitter.com/ManCity/status/1762553224907649517?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Pre-match reading

Blackburn v Newcastle team news

John Eustace and Eddie Howe have picked pretty strong sides. Howe makes five changes from the defeat at the Emirates but it feels the majority are based on merit rather than a desire to rotate.

Bournemouth v Leicester team news

Five changes for Bournemouth, nine for Leicester. Hashtag priorities.

Updated

Preamble

Good day, good evening, good morning and welcome to our latest FA Cup clockwatch. Three games tonight, all kicking off at different times for maximum inconvience, and all intriguing in different ways.

  • Bournemouth v Leicester (7.30pm)

  • Blackburn v Newcastle (7.45pm)

  • Luton v Man City (8pm)

With three of the Premier League’s top five already out of the competition, there is a decent chance for an outsider to go all most of the way this season, maybe as far as the semi-finals.

Bournemouth, Leicester, Luton and Blackburn all fall into that category, though promotion/relegation-avoidance may take priority. The team news will reveal all. Newcastle should satill aspire to win the competition, though for now they just want to avoid a shock defeat that would increase the slightly unfair pressure on Eddie Howe.

I won’t insult your intelligence by elaborating on Manchester City’s chances of winning a trophy.

Updated

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