Port Vale to visit Chelsea in FA Cup quarter-finals
League One strugglers Port Vale will travel to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. After their shock win over Sunderland on Sunday, Vale, eight points adrift at the bottom of the table, are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, making it through to the quarter-finals for the first time since 1954.
Chelsea twice came from behind to avoid another upset with a 4-2 extra-time victory over 10-man Wrexham a raucous Stok Cae Ras.
Arsenal, having seen off Mansfield on Saturday, will head to Championship side Southampton, who won 1-0 at Fulham with an injury-time penalty from Ross Stewart.
Manchester City – 3-1 winners at Newcastle – will be at home against Liverpool, who saw off Wolves in the fifth round on Friday night. The winners of Monday night’s tie between West Ham and Brentford will host Leeds, who comfortably beat Norwich 3-0 on Sunday. The quarter-finals will be played around the weekend of 4 April. PA Media
Key events
Further reading:
Next up … minute-by-minute coverage of the final fifth-round tie …
The quarter-final draw in full
Southampton v Arsenal
Chelsea at Port Vale
Manchester City v Liverpool
West Ham or Brentford v Leeds United
Ties to be played on the weekend of 4th and 5th April 2026.
That concludes the draw, ties to be played on the weekend of 4th and 5th April.
West Ham or Brentford v Leeds United
Manchester City v Liverpool; Hart pulls a belter!
Chelsea at Port Vale
Southampton v Arsenal
First some blather, then off we go, Fletcher talking. And talking.
Righto, it’s draw time. Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist are presiding, with Joe Cole and Joe Hart picking the balls.
The draw is imminent. But, in the meantime, here’s Richard Hirst:
“I couldn’t agree more,” he says. “You should see my diatribes on the Fulhamish website. To misquote Monty Python ‘Annoyed! I was … furious’.”
I really struggle to grasp the motivation. Are we saying the Cup was sacrificed for the pursuit of European football – even though Marco Silva may well leave in the summer? Or that he underestimated Soton? Or both? Or something else?
Manchester City were very impressive at the weekend, dismissing Newcastle from a goal down. If they maintain that level, they’ll take some stopping in what’s left of the season – in all competitions. But they’ve struggled for consistency for some time now, so though it may be that Pep Guardiola’s next team are settling, its defensive aspect still looks vulnerable.
In such situation I didn’t expect even Marco Silva to blame someone other than him, and yet:
double quotation mark A very bad day for us,” Silva said. “It is probably not the moment to be emotional. It is a moment for us to look deeper.It is not just another defeat. We lost a big chance. If you want to be in a club that wants to get better your ambition has to always be there. If you are pushing to win a game there are certain standards you cannot drop. Some things are about mentality.”
What if your manager tacitly advises the players he’s not that bothered by leaving out his best players?
I’m still annoyed with Marco Silva. What on earth was he thinking, making nine changes to a side comfortable in mid-table?
How did they all get here?
Preamble
Evening all; it’s getting to that point, isn’t it?
Of the 747 clubs to enter this season’s FA Cup, just nine remain. Among them are the usual suspects – of the last 20 editions, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have between them won 14 – along with the dreamers – Brentford, Port Vale, Leeds, Southampton and West Ham, who between them have won five, ever. For all, glory and memories to last a lifetime are within reach.
So it’s over to Joe Hart, who’ll conduct the draw and determine whether the rich boys and underdogs are kept apart or set at each other. These are the numbers out for which to look:
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Southampton
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Port Vale
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Manchester City
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Leeds United
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Arsenal
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Liverpool
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Chelsea
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West Ham United or Brentford
Mixing and mirth begin: 7.05pm GMT
