Luton Town to pull off biggest result when they welcome Man City
Luton Town will be bidding to pull off one of the biggest results in their history when they welcome Manchester City to Kenilworth Road in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
The home side will enter the contest off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Liverpool in the Premier League last Wednesday, while Man City continued their title pursuit with a 1-0 success at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Luton have gained plenty of admirers for their style of football this season and ability to cause the big clubs problems, especially at home, but the Hatters will enter this match off the back of three successive Premier League losses to Sheffield United, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Rob Edwards‘s side are 18th in the Premier League table, one point behind 17th-placed Everton, with their next league match coming at home to Aston Villa next weekend.
Luton’s immediate focus is on the FA Cup, though, and they have claimed two impressive away wins in the competition so far this season, beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the third round before overcoming Everton by the same scoreline in the fourth round at the end of last month.
Luton have already lost to Man City at Kenilworth Road this season, with the English champions running out 2-1 winners in the Premier League on December 10, but they needed to come from behind after Elijah Adebayo had made the breakthrough in the closing stages of the first period.
This will be the first FA Cup meeting between the two sides since January 1969, when Man City recorded a 1-0 victory at Maine Road, and the Citizens will now be bidding to reach the quarter-finals of this season’s tournament. Guardiola is expected to name a strong side, and the Citizens should have too much quality for their opponents on Tuesday night.
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Bournemouth, Leicester clash in intriguing FA Cup affair
The Vitality Stadium will play host to an intriguing FA Cup fifth-round affair on Tuesday evening, as Premier League side Bournemouth welcome Championship leaders Leicester City.
Bournemouth will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to the champions Manchester City, while Leicester suffered a 3-1 loss to Leeds United in a top-of-the-table clash last time out.
Bournemouth have had to win two matches to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, opening their challenge with a 3-2 success over Queens Park Rangers on January 6, before thumping Swansea City 5-0 last time out.
Bournemouth’s next three in the Premier League are actually against the bottom three – Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town – so they will be confident of claiming points in the coming weeks, but their immediate focus is on booking a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The Cherries have won each of their last three matches against Leicester, all of which have been in the Premier League, including a 2-1 success when they last locked horns at the Vitality Stadium in October 2022.
This contest will actually be the first-ever FA Cup meeting between the two sides, and while Leicester are focused on securing a return to the Premier League, the Foxes know what it takes to win this competition, having famously lifted the trophy at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
Leicester have just wobbled in the last two matches, though, losing 2-1 at home to Middlesbrough on February 17 before going down 3-1 at Leeds on Friday, and there will be pressure on them to bounce back.
This is a really tough match to call, as neither team are expected to be at full strength on Tuesday. It could go either way, but we have a feeling that Bournemouth’s additional quality and home support will allow them to navigate their way into the quarter-finals of the competition.
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Blackburn Roverswelcome Newcastle to Ewood Park
Newcastle United will be bidding to book their spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup when they head to Ewood Park to tackle Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.
The visitors will enter the match off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League, while Blackburn drew 1-1 with Norwich City in the second tier of English football last time out.
Blackburn are six-time winners of the FA Cup, lifting the trophy in 1884, 1885, 1886, 1890, 1891 and 1928, while they also reached the final of the competition in 1882 and 1960.
Rovers will not view this competition as a priority this season. Blackburn are currently 16th in the Championship table, 16 points off the playoff positions, so it is going to be difficult for them to challenge for promotion this season, and they are only actually four points outside of the relegation zone at a vital stage of the campaign.
Rovers have lost their last two matches against Newcastle, which have been in the League Cup and FA Cup, with the team’s last success over the Magpies coming in a Championship clash in January 2017.
Newcastle, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League, with the result ending a five-game unbeaten run for the Magpies.
Newcastle have also won the FA Cup on six previous occasions, triumphing in 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952 and 1955, while they were last present in the final in 1999, famously losing to Manchester United.
Blackburn are more than capable of progressing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at Newcastle’s expense, and we are expecting Tuesday’s affair to be extremely close. Newcastle boss Howe is set to name a strong side, though, and we are backing the visitors to navigate their way into the final eight.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
