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The Emirates FA Cup

Match-by-match preview for the Emirates FA Cup fifth round proper

Friday 23 Feb 2024
The FA

Our friends at Opta have helped us deep dive into the upcoming Emirates FA Cup fifth round proper by picking out some of the key stats for each of the ties.

Coventry City v Maidstone United – 7.45pm GMT, Monday 26 February, on ITV4 and ITVX

- Coventry City lost 4-3 against National League side Wrexham in last season’s FA Cup – since the expansion of the Football League to at least three tiers, no side in the top two divisions has been eliminated by non-league opponents in consecutive FA Cup campaigns.

- Maidstone eliminated Barrow in the second round, Stevenage in the third and Ipswich in the fourth of this season’s FA Cup. Only three non-league sides have eliminated four Football League clubs in a single FA Cup campaign – Tottenham in 1900-01, Telford United in 1984-85 and Lincoln City in 2016-17.

- Coventry are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for just the second time this century, previously doing so in the 2008-09 campaign.

- Maidstone United are featuring in the FA Cup fifth round for the first time in their history. They could become just the second non-league side to reach the quarter-final in the last 109 years, after Lincoln City in 2016-17.

- Kasey Palmer has been directly involved in five goals in his four FA Cup appearances for Coventry City, scoring three and assisting two.

- Maidstone have had 11 shots on target in the FA Cup this season (first round onwards), scoring with seven of them (64%). They netted with both of their attempts overall in their fourth round win at Ipswich Town.

AFC Bournemouth v Leicester City – 7.30pm GMT, Tuesday 27 February, on BBC iPlayer

- This is the first ever FA Cup meeting between Bournemouth and Leicester City. The Cherries have won their last three against the Foxes in all competitions (all in the Premier League), more than they had in their previous 13 meetings (W2 D5 L6).

- When playing outside the top-flight themselves, Leicester City have won just one of their last seven FA Cup matches against Premier League opponents (D2 L4), winning 2-1 at Norwich at the fifth round stage in 2011-12.

- Bournemouth are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the third time in their history, previously doing so in 1956-57 and 2020-21. They lost their only fifth round match as a top-flight side in the competition, going down 2-0 against Everton in 2015-16.

- Leicester have only failed to score in one of their last 22 FA Cup matches (W17 D0 L5), a 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea in the 2019-20 quarter-final. They’ve beaten Millwall 3-2 and Birmingham 3-0 this season, but have never scored 3+ goals in three consecutive FA Cup games before.

- Bournemouth’s eight FA Cup goals this season have been scored by eight different players. They had four players both score and assist a goal in their 5-0 win over Swansea in the last round (Scott, Brooks, Sinisterra and Solanke).

- Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has been involved in five goals in his last four starts against Bournemouth in all competitions, scoring four and assisting one.

Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United – 7.45pm GMT, Tuesday 27 February, on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport

- Blackburn have been eliminated from seven of their nine FA Cup ties against Newcastle, including each of the last five in a row. The most recent was a 4-2 home defeat in a third round replay in 2018-19.

- Newcastle have won their last two meetings with Blackburn in all competitions, winning 4-2 in the FA Cup in January 2019 and 1-0 in the League Cup in September 2020. They last won three in a row against Rovers between 1966 and 1979.

- Blackburn Rovers are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final in consecutive campaigns for the first time since 1927-28/1928-29. They reached the last eight last season by beating Premier League opposition in the fifth round (2-1 v Leicester).

- Newcastle have progressed from each of their last eight FA Cup fifth round ties, most recently against West Bromwich Albion in 2019-20.

- Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics has scored in each of his last four FA Cup appearances (7 goals in total), with no player scoring more than him in this season’s competition so far (5, first round onwards).

- Newcastle have won 3-0 at Sunderland and 2-0 at Fulham in this season’s FA Cup. They last won three matches in a row in the competition between rounds three and five in the 2005-06 campaign.

Luton Town v Manchester City – 8pm GMT, Tuesday 27 February, on ITV1, UTV, STV and ITVX

- This is the first FA Cup meeting between Luton and Manchester City since January 1969, with the Citizens winning a third round tie 1-0 at Maine Road.

- Man City are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with Luton in all competitions (W5 D4), with their 2-1 win at Kenilworth Road in the Premier League this season their only previous meeting with the Hatters this century.

- Luton are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1993-94. They’ve gone out at the fifth round twice since then – against Millwall in 2012-13 and against Chelsea in 2021-22.

- Manchester City have reached the FA Cup quarter-final in all but one of their seven previous campaigns under Pep Guardiola. The only failure was in 2017-18, when they lost 1-0 to Wigan Athletic in the fifth round.

- This is the first time Luton have an FA Cup tie against the holders of the competition since 1986-87, when they eliminated Liverpool after two replays in the third round.

- Manchester City have won each of their last eight FA Cup matches by an aggregate score of 25-1. They’ve won 32 of their 38 games under Pep Guardiola in the competition (D1 L5), with four of their five defeats coming in the semi-final.

Chelsea v Leeds United – 7.45pm GMT, Wednesday 28 February, on ITV4 and ITVX

- This will be the first FA Cup tie between Chelsea and Leeds United since the 1970 final, which the Blues won after a replay. Chelsea have never lost in eight previous FA Cup games against Leeds (W5 D3).

- Leeds have lost each of their last six away games against Chelsea in all competitions, all coming in the Premier League from 2002 to 2023. The Whites’ last such win at Stamford Bridge was in December 1999 (2-0).

- Chelsea have progressed from 13 of their last 15 FA Cup fifth round ties, failing only against Man City in 2013-14 and Man Utd in 2018-19 in this time, the latter of which was their last home defeat in the FA Cup.

- Leeds United are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the first time since 2002-03. They’ve been eliminated from this stage of the competition three times since then, including a 2-0 loss to Fulham last term.

- Enzo Fernández scored in both of Chelsea’s FA Cup wins this season, netting in the third round against Preston and fourth round replay at Aston Villa. The last player to score in each of the third, fourth, and fifth rounds of a single FA Cup campaign for the club was Pedro in 2016-17.

- Leeds have scored at least three goals in four of their last six FA Cup matches, as many times as they had in their previous 49 matches in the competition combined.

Nottingham Forest v Manchester United – 7.45pm GMT, Wednesday 28 February, on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport

- Nottingham Forest have progressed from four of their five previous FA Cup ties against Manchester United, although the only exception was the most recent, losing 0-1 in the third round in 1989-90. 

- Manchester United have already lost at the City Ground this season, losing their Premier League visit in December (2-1). The Red Devils last suffered back-to-back away defeats against Nottingham Forest in all competitions in December 1984.

- Nottingham Forest are aiming to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the second time in the last three seasons (also 2021-22), after having only reached the last eight in two of their previous 30 campaigns prior to this.

- Manchester United are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for what would be a record 48th time. They’re currently tied with Everton on 47 quarter-final appearances in the competition.

- Nottingham Forest have drawn three of their FA Cup matches this season (W1), with both their third and fourth round ties going to a replay. The last Premier League club to draw four or more games in a single FA Cup campaign were Middlesbrough under Gareth Southgate in 2006-07 (6).

- Bruno Fernandes has scored five goals in his last five FA Cup appearances, netting in each of his last three in a row. The last Manchester United player to score in four consecutive FA Cup games was Romelu Lukaku in 2018.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brighton & Hove Albion – 7.45pm GMT, Wednesday 28 February, on BBC iPlayer

- This is just the second FA Cup meeting between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton, with Wolves winning a third round tie 3-2 in 1978-79 previously.

- Brighton have tasted victory in their last three away games against Wolves in all competitions, having won just one of their previous 11 visits to Molineux before this (D7 L3). 

- Wolves are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the third time this century, previously doing so in 2002-03 and 2018-19.

- Since promotion to the Premier League in 2017, Brighton are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the fourth time (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2022-23). They’d only done so twice in their history before this (1982-83 and 1985-86).

- Matheus Cunha scored in Wolves’ third round replay win against Brentford, and in the fourth round against West Brom. The last player to score in the first three available rounds to Wolves in a single FA Cup campaign was George Ndah in 2002-03.

- Brighton’s João Pedro has scored six goals in his last three FA Cup games. He’s the joint-top scorer in this season’s competition from the first round onwards with five goals, netting a hat-trick in the last round against Sheffield United.

Liverpool v Southampton – 8pm GMT, Wednesday 28 February, on ITV1, UTV, STV and ITVX

- Liverpool have won each of their last four FA Cup meetings with Southampton, most recently a 3-0 fifth round victory at Anfield in 1989-90.

- Southampton have lost their last six away games against Liverpool in all competitions, and are winless in seven (D1) since a 1-0 victory in the 2016-17 EFL Cup semi-final.

- Liverpool have alternated between progression (5) and elimination (4) in their last nine FA Cup fifth round ties. They beat Norwich 2-1 in their last such match in 2021-22, the only time they’ve reached the quarter-final of the competition under Jürgen Klopp.

- Southampton have progressed from three of their last four FA Cup fifth round ties, including twice in the previous three seasons. However, they did lose against Grimsby Town at this stage of the competition last term.

- Liverpool’s Diogo Jota is set to miss this match after being ruled out for what Jurgen Klopp described as ‘months’. Jota has been directly involved in nine goals in 11 appearances in the FA Cup (5 goals, 4 assists), only failing to register a goal involvement in one of his seven starts in the competition (v Norwich in March 2022).

- Southampton’s Ché Adams has been directly involved in four goals in his last three FA Cup appearances (2 goals, 2 assists), twice as many as he was in his first 18 games in the competition (1 goal, 1 assist).

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