Romance of the FA Cup alive and well

CHELSEA and Manchester City, the top two teams in the English Premier League (EPL), won't be in action this weekend. Neither are Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and six other top flight clubs.

The FA Cup enters its fifth round this weekend with half of the 20 teams in the EPL already eliminated, a statistic that speaks volumes of just how unpredictable the world's oldest football knockout competition can be.

The previous round three weeks ago conjured up one shock result after another. Chelsea, the team on top of the EPL, surrendered a two-goal advantage at home to lose to unfancied Bradford City, a club from the third tier of English football.

Manchester City fared just as badly. The 2011 FA Cup winner failed to score at its own Etihad Stadium as Middlesbrough, a team flying high in the second division, stunned their big-spending opponents 2-0.

Tottenham and Southampton, two teams that would have fancied their chances to lift the trophy this season, also crumbled at home.

The record 11-time winner of the FA Cup, Manchester United, barely survived. The Red Devils endured a torrid time at fourth division side Cambridge United, holding out for a goalless draw before trouncing the minnows 3-0 in the replay at Old Trafford last week.

Their reward is yet another trip to lower-ranked opposition. On Monday (Tuesday 3.45am, Singapore time), Louis van Gaal takes his squad to face Preston North End, marking the first meeting between these two clubs since 1972.

The Lilywhites (Preston's nickname) are on quite a roll, winning all three of their fixtures this month after going through a torrid seven-match winless streak in January.

Preston boss Simon Grayson is already relishing the opportunity to etch his name in the history books once again.

Grayson, after all, was famously in charge when Leeds United of the third division knocked the Red Devils out of the competition in the third round in 2010.

And the man who scored the lone goal that fateful day, Jermaine Beckford, is currently with Preston on a loan deal from Bolton Wanderers.

What a story it would be if Beckford, a London-born Jamaican, could repeat the feat five years on, in front of what will be a full house at Preston's 24,000-seater Deepdale stadium.

"We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. We'll go and enjoy playing against some of the best players in the world," Grayson said on Thursday. "It will be a fantastic atmosphere, a massive profile for our football club and it's a tie we're looking forward to and should enjoy."

Elsewhere, Arsenal, the team that won the FA Cup last season, await the visit of Middlesbrough to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday (11.55pm, Singapore time) in what should be a feisty encounter between two very physical teams.

Arsenal know they are out of the EPL title race - the Gunners are in fifth spot in the table - but they could still finish the season on a high should they retain the FA Cup and do well in the Champions League tournament.

Middlesbrough will be no pushovers, however. Aitor Karanka has masterminded a run of five straight wins and his team has not tasted defeat since Dec 20.

Another team facing a potential banana skin is Liverpool, the seven-time FA Cup champions, as they head to London to tackle Crystal Palace on Saturday (Sunday 1.30am, Singapore time).

This is a repeat of the 1990 semi-final that saw the current Palace boss, Alan Pardew, net an extra-time goal to knock the Reds out in a 4-3 thriller.

Liverpool will have to find a way to find without captain Steven Gerrard, who is still hoping to play his final match for his boyhood club in the FA Cup final on his 35th birthday on May 30.

Gerrard, who will leave the Reds at the end of the season to join the Los Angeles Galaxy, is out of the team for three weeks because of a hamstring injury.

There are usually plenty of fireworks when Liverpool and Crystal Palace play against each other, with an astonishing 23 goals in their last six meetings. They last met in this competition in 2003 when Palace triumphed 2-0 at Anfield.

Many have lamented the fact that the FA Cup has lost much of its allure in recent years, with the bigger clubs more focused on the EPL and the Champions League.

Sure, the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City will appreciate having a rare weekend off to rest and concentrate on the other competitions, but they'd be lying if they said they were happy being out of the FA Cup.

The events of the last round did much to reinvigorate the romance of this old competition, and it's a strong bet that at least one of the top teams still standing today will bid farewell once this weekend is over.