Mansfield handed plum Arsenal tie
The League One side Mansfield Town were rewarded for their weekend FA Cup heroics with a fifth-round home tie against the Premier League leaders, Arsenal.
Nigel Clough’s side, who beat top-flight Burnley 2-1 on Saturday, will welcome Mikel Arteta’s men to Field Mill next month for the Nottinghamshire club’s first taste of the last 16 since 1975. Clough, whose father famously was not able to win the FA Cup as a manager, has developed a giantkilling reputation during his own time in the dugout and led Sheffield United to the semi-finals in 2014 after disposing of Aston Villa and Fulham along the way.
Wrexham will also be licking their lips as Chelsea were drawn to face the Championship side, again at Y Cae Ras. Phil Parkinson’s team have enjoyed home comforts in round three and four – knocking out Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town along the way and there is sure to be plenty of media attention with the Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac likely to be part of the buildup.
March will provide a stern examination of Chelsea’s mettle, with their first three games of the month away at Arsenal and Aston Villa in the league before their Cup tie in Wales.
Port Vale and Bristol City have been given extra motivation to progress from their rearranged game, with the winners due to welcome Sunderland. The original fourth‑round tie was called off last Friday due to a waterlogged pitch at Vale Park.
Fresh from their Carabao Cup meetings, Newcastle will have an early chance to exact revenge as Manchester City will take another trip to St James’ Park. City powered into the League Cup final with a 5-1 aggregate win over the Magpies which featured a 2-0 first-leg victory in the north-east.
Daniel Farke welcomes his former club Norwich as Leeds were handed a home tie while Arne Slot’s Liverpool will travel to Molineux to face bottom-of-the-table Wolves.
Fulham will play host to Southampton, while West Ham will play Brentford at the London Stadium. Mark Dobson
Updated
One top-flight London team down, and another waiting in the fifth round if they can do it again tonight. Follow Macclesfield v Brentford here:
“Not only is West Ham a winnable tie and a high-profile opponent, their stadium has enough room for a very sizeable away contingent and happens to be extremely well-connected to public transport,” notes David Howell. Pin that on the dressing room, John Rooney!
Here’s the latest Football Daily. Our ‘Road to Wembley’ team are Port Vale, who are now just two home wins from the quarter-finals! Home wins for Vale in League One this season: three.
In summary: crash, bang, wallop, what a draw. Wrexham v Chelsea might be the headline tie but there’s big competition from Mansfield v Arsenal, and a heavyweight Newcastle v Manchester City tie.
Straight over to Macclesfield owner Rob Smethurst: “Drinks on the house if we win tonight,” he says, hoping not everyone in the packed bar can hear him. As a non-league team, you want either a trip to a big club, or a tie you can win. Macc might have got both there.
West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford
Fifth-round draw in full
Fulham v Southampton
Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland
Newcastle v Manchester City
Leeds United v Norwich City
Mansfield Town v Arsenal
Wolves v Liverpool
Wrexham v Chelsea
West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford
Wrexham v Chelsea!
Wolves v Liverpool
Mansfield Town v Arsenal!
Leeds v Norwich – the Daniel Farke derby.
Newcastle United v Manchester City! A rerun of the Carabao Cup semis, over one leg this time.
Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland
The first team out are Fulham, and they will host Southampton.
“You can’t even see the draw on mainstream TV anymore, let alone the actual games,” says Tony Lehrle-Fry. “No doubt Sajnts will get Liverpool away again, so no point in taking out a TNT subscription.”
Draw time!
Those ball numbers again …
1 Liverpool
2 Fulham
3 Sunderland
4 Southampton
5 Wrexham
6 Arsenal
7 Chelsea
8 West Ham
9 Mansfield
10 Norwich
11 Port Vale or Bristol City
12 Wolves
13 Newcastle
14 Manchester City
15 Macclesfield or Brentford
16 Leeds
TNT have kicked off with a walk-and-talk around a packed Macclesfield dressing room, the only problem being that the camera lens keeps steaming up. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
Three minutes until the draw, according to an on-screen countdown that will inevitably prove to be inaccurate. I think the fifth round is my personal favourite round of the Cup; close enough to Wembley but still with plenty of room for surprises.
The draw will be conducted by Karen Carney and Joe Cole on TNT Sports. They’re at the Moss Rose for Macclesfield v Brentford, which you can follow afterwards with Xaymaca Awoyungbo. Can Macc do it all again? Don’t count them out.
Updated
We are all bourgeois Marinakis now: Jonathan Wilson on the twitchy football culture that makes long-term management near-impossible.
“It’s great to see Liverpool where they belong, at the top of the table,” cheers Peter Oh. “Even if it’s just a table of balls, I’m going to enjoy this moment. I would like to see the Reds draw Wrexham. Liverpool v Deadpool!”
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Speaking of events at Villa Park, referee Chris Kavanagh has been stood down by PGMO after three big errors during the match.
Mansfield were the Cupsetters of the fourth-round weekend, while Aston Villa v Newcastle descended into farce without VAR. It’s all in the latest Football Weekly…
How did we get here? Rerun the fun of the fourth round with our talking points.
Ball numbers
1 Liverpool
2 Fulham
3 Sunderland
4 Southampton
5 Wrexham
6 Arsenal
7 Chelsea
8 West Ham
9 Mansfield
10 Norwich
11 Port Vale or Bristol City
12 Wolves
13 Newcastle
14 Manchester City
15 Macclesfield or Brentford
16 Leeds
Preamble
Sixth-tier Macclesfield FC face Brentford after this draw, and the Silkmen bring a welcome touch of romance to proceedings following a fourth-round weekend short of surprises. Mansfield Town (who won at Burnley) and Port Vale (whose tie with Bristol City was postponed) are the other teams from outside the top two divisions to make it.
Mansfield were the story of the weekend, prevailing 2-1 at Turf Moor to reach the last 16 for the first time since 1975. Wrexham, who saw off Ipswich on Friday, last made the fifth round in 1997. Only two other Championship clubs are definitely through – Norwich and Southampton – alongside 10 Premier League sides. Find out who they all get at 6.30pm (GMT).
