FA Cup

FA Cup fifth round fixtures are being played midweek in a change from the competition's tradition with Fulham vs Leeds United among the ties.

Stormzy launches new initiative with Fulham and Ian Wright backing](https://www.football.london/premier-league/merky-fc-stormzy-ian-wright-25427768) The fifth-round stage has become unofficially recognised as the latter stages of the competition since 2018/19, with the scrapping of replays. Having all-but secured their safety, hitting 39 points with 13 matches left to play, the Whites will be aiming to beat Javi Gracia's Leeds who remain mired in the relegation dogfight.

Minute-by-minute report: Join Scott Murray for updates from under the lights at Ashton Gate.

“It’ll be 2-1 to BCFC, with the winner in the 94th minute, while the Mancunians are preoccupied with booking limos to their Gulfstreams at Lulsgate is my prediction.” We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. It’s a cute run, and though he’s crowded out, the ball twangs out of play for a corner on the left. [Manchester City](https://www.theguardian.com/football/manchestercity) pass down the left nearly releases Foden into the box. Lewis comes across and eases him off the ball and to the ground. O’Leary comes to the edge of his area to claim. O’Leary is beaten, buy Kalas heads off the line at the expense of a corner. 33 min: De Bruyne cuts in from the left and blooters a wild effort high and wide from distance. De Bruyne takes too long over what to do next, and the momentum of the attack is jiggered. 35 min: Kalas strips a snoozing De Bruyne in the centre circle and sets Bell off down the left. De Bruyne enters the box and flashes a shot over the bar. Dias attempts to sweep home from ten yards, only for Pring to throw himself in the road and take the sting out of the shot. The ball’s swung back in from the left.

The draw for the quarter-final of the Emirates FA Cup will be made after this week's final fifth round tie between Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur, ...

In today's Football Daily: Midweek FA Cup magic, Nigel Pearson and more.

A few years back when I worked for a well known parcel delivery company, I was tasked with a special journey to deliver a parcel to the home of Liverpool’s Lucas Leiva. I tried to use the excuse of it being cold outside to said player but even though he didn’t seem to fall for it he still laughed it off” – Pete Cody. “There is a part of me that realises I’m not the easiest to work with at times … I wasn’t actually aware of the recipient’s name until after I got strangely selected by my boss to carry out this task. I’m a lot more thoughtful than I’ve been in the past and able to look at things in a different way. That’s if Pep’s performance in the pre-match press conference is anything to go by, given he spent most of it going out of his way to patronise Manchester United in the wake of their League Cup glory. The place: Annfield Park, Stirling, for a local derby between the mighty Albion and Stenhousemuir. Similar excitement this time is surely not beyond the realms, given that Bristol City are on a run of 12 matches without defeat, while Manchester City go into the game with one eye on the title race, the other on that elusive Big Cup. The Robins surprisingly have the historical upper hand over the Citizens, 10-9 up in wins, and although they’ve lost all of the last four meetings, a sequence that stretches back to 1980, they gave Pep Guardiola’s side a run for their money in the 2018 Coca-Cola Cup semis. So let’s embrace this new-fangled state of affairs, which you may as well do as it’s surely here to stay now, or at least until the FA Cup is abolished in 2031 by decree of all four members of the new streamlined Premier League (Newcastle Football Concern, Consolidated Mancunian, London Weekend and PSG). The plum tie of the fifth round – in the old-fashioned sense of having potential shock value, as opposed to the modern one of being exactly the same sort of fixture you get week in, week out on Sky – is relegation-haunted Saints versus fourth-tier Grimsby. Let’s be honest, most of the best FA Cup moments in history occurred under lights in the middle of the week anyway.

The matches will be played either on Saturday March 18, or Sunday March 19. FA Cup draw ball numbers. 1 Southampton or Grimsby Town 2 Leicester City or ...

- Manchester United vs West Ham, 19:45 - Bristol City vs Manchester City, 20:00 - Stoke City vs Brighton, 19:15

The FA Cup quarter-finals will take place in March as teams continue their journey to Wembley in the search of silverware.Holders Liverpool are.

- Southampton vs Grimsby, 19:15 - Leicester vs Blackburn, 19:30 - Stoke City vs Brighton, 19:15