Five all-Premier ties in fourth round

The race for the Premier League title in England takes a short break this weekend, making way for the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The programme this weekend reserves five all-Premier league clashes with the main tie at Goodison Park where Everton play hosts to holders Chelsea.

The Londoners, who easily disposed of Ipswich 7-0 in the previous round, will be bracing themselves for a far more testing time against the Toffees who progressed to this stage of the competition after seeing off Scunthorpe 5-1.

Earlier this week, Chelsea put their Premier League hopes back on track with a comfortable 4-0 win at Bolton. The Trotters must have thought the Blues had lost their aura of supremacy and they’re no longer a club to reckon with. Yet, they soon came to their senses as Chelsea produced a dominant display.

Everton and Chelsea met eight times in the FA Cup with the Londoners winning six to Everton’s two. The last time they met was in the final of 2008-09 when Chelsea won 2-1 at Wembley.

The two teams have already met once in the Premier League this season and Everton succeeded in taking a point off Chelsea at Stamford Bridge following a 1-1 draw.

At Craven Cottage, Fulham entertain Tottenham Hotspur in a London derby tomorrow.

This season, the Spurs, who made their intentions clear about moving away from White Hart Lane no matter what decision is taken about the new Olympic Stadium, have already completed a double over Fulham in the Premier League after beating them 2-1 at Craven Cottage and then edged a narrow 1-0 win at home.

It was revealed this week that injury-prone Jonathan Woodgate will be paid for the minutes he plays for at Tottenham as Fulham striker David Elm joined Elfsborg in his homeland Sweden.

On the five past occasions the two teams met in the FA Cup, Tottenham always came out on top with Fulham managing just two draws before bowing out in a replay.

Gerard Houllier succeeded in securing one of the finest signings in his career when luring striker Darren Bent away from Sunderland. Bent marked his debut with the winner in Villa’s 1-0 win over Manchester City last week.

On Tuesday, the Villans maintained their winning momentum when they scored a 2-1 win at Wigan. This afternoon they host Blackburn in the cup.

Villa and Blackburn clashed seven times in the FA Cup and Villa lead 4-3.

2009-10 Villa-Rovers 3-1
2002-03 Villa-Rovers 1-4
1989-90 Rovers-Villa 2-2
Replay: Villa 3-1
1979-80 Rovers-Villa 1-1
Replay: Villa 1-0
1929-30 Villa-Rovers 4-1
1922-23 Villa-Rovers 0-1
1888-89 Rovers-Villa 8-1

At Molineux, Wolves, buoyed by their 5-0 win over Doncaster in a replay in the previous round, will cross swords with Stoke City who also needed a replay to move past Cardiff 2-0 in extra-time.

This will be the seventh time that Wolves and Stoke meet in the competition, with the Midlanders holding the edge in all past six encounters. The last time they met was in the third round in 1980-81 when Wolves won 2-1 in a replay following a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, Bolton’s miserable performance against Chelsea in the league will have to be amended in the FA Cup for the Trotters to regain some lost confidence as they host Wigan today.

Manager Owen Coyle has seen Bolton slide to 10th place in the standings but, for some critics, that is still a healthy position for a modest club like the Wanderers.

Following the league setback at Villa Park, Manchester City will be looking at the FA Cup to deliver the goods after spending so much cash on new players.

Manchester City, who were forced into a replay by Leicester in the previous round, will face League One Notts County at Meadow Lane.

Notts County are managed by Paul Ince who has just signed Liverpool defender Stephen Derby on loan till the end of season.

Premier League leaders Manchester United, who consolidated their place in the standings with a dramatic 3-2 win at Blackpool in midweek, take on League One side Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium in the late kick-off today.

The Southampton fans still re-member vividly how they won the FA Cup at the expense of United in the 1976 final (1-0).

Fixtures and forecast

Fa Cup, fourth round
Aston Villa-Blackburn (14:00) - 1
Birmingham-Coventry - X
Bolton-Wigan - 1
Burnley-Burton Albion - 1
Everton-Chelsea (13:30) - 2
Sheffield Wed.-Hereford - 1
Stevenage-Reading - 2
Torquay-Crawley Town - X
Watford-Brighton - 1
Southampton-Man. Utd (18:15) - 2
Swansea-Leyton Orient (13:50) - 1

Tomorrow:
Arsenal-Huddersfield (13:00) - 1
Fulham-Tottenham (17:30) - 2
Notts County-Man. City (15:00) - 2
West Ham-N. Forest (15:00) - X
Wolves-Stoke (14:00) - 1

The Championship
Crystal Palace-Norwich - 2
Hull City-QPR - 2
Scunthorpe-Preston - X

League One
Brentford-Yeovil - 1
Carlisle-Oldham - 1
Plymouth-Bournemouth - X
Rochdale-Charlton - X
Swindon-Exeter - 1
Walsall-Bristol Rovers - X

League Two
Barnet-Southend - X
Chesterfield-Bradford - 1
Crewe-Accrington Stanley - 1
Gillingham-Aldershot - 1
Lincoln City-Port Vale - X
Morecambe-Macclesfield - 1
Oxford Utd-Cheltenham - 1
Rotherham-Stockport - 1

Hot four
Brentford, Swindon Town, Crewe, Rotherham.