English FA Cup Round of 16 Preview

Holders Chelsea celebrate winning last season's FA Cup. (Photo: Newscom)

Holders Chelsea remain in a competition that has knocked out most of the other big clubs in England, giving all of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool – the second through fourth place teams in the Premier League – the weekend off.

That is not to say the tournament lacks name clubs. Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and Birmingham City – occupants of places five through eight in the league, will all see action this weekend, with two of them involved in the only matches between top-flight sides.

Welcome to the FA Cup’s Round of 16, otherwise known as the fifth round proper.

Starting a noon London-time (7 a.m. EST) Saturday, here are the weekend’s eight matches:

Chelsea vs. Cardiff City (7 a.m. Saturday, Stamford Bridge)

Against a side that is second in the Championship in goals scored, Chelsea will be without John Terry (on leave from the club) and Ashley Cole (out with a broken ankle). With José Bosingwa yet to regain his fitness, Chelsea will be missing three of their four first choices at the back. Michael Essien and Juliano Belletti are also, likely absent for the Blues.

That leaves a number of questions at the back for Peter Whittingham and Michael Chopra, the two leading scorers in the Championship.

That is, if Chopra plays. He is one of many injury doubts for a Cardiff side whose fitness concerns go eleven players deep.

Carlo Ancellotti has already announced that Nicklas Anelka and Petr Cech will be rested, giving starts to Hilário (in goal) and (with Florent Malouda to start on the bench) both Joe Cole and Daniel Sturridge.

Southampton vs. Portsmouth (7:30 a.m. Saturday, St. Mary’s)

The South Coast Derby is the most anticipated match of the weekend and may also be the final match for Portsmouth, pending the resolution of a winding-up order with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

What does that mean? Pompey might be deemed insolvent, depending on how their statement of affairs is met by the High Court on Wednesday.

Between that turmoil, Pompey’s poor (if valiant) results in the Premier League, the derby atmosphere and Southampton’s decent results in League One (where they are trying to fight through the ten point penalty incurred for their own financial troubles), many are picking the lower-division side to go through.

Reading vs. West Bromwich Albion (10:00 a.m. Saturday, Madjeski Stadium)

Reading’s 2009-10 FA Cup acclaim’s come from their win at Anfield, but West Brom knocked out a strong Newcastle United side in the last round, and while there was some controversy surrounding the officiating in that tie (at least, according to Chris Houghton), Albion has taken the momentum of that result to climb over Newcastle in the Championship.

Meanwhile Reading, so close to being re-promoted to the Premier League last season, is currently in the Championship’s relegation zone.

In the clubs’ previous meeting this season, Reading lost 3-1 at the Hawthorns thanks (in large part) to two Jerome Thomas goals.

Unfortunately for Roberto di Matteo, he will be without Thomas. He will also be without Frank Nouble, Ishmael Miller and Marek Cech.

Derby County vs. Birmingham City (10:00 a.m. Saturday, Pride Park)

Derby is averaging just over a goal per match in the Championship, sitting fifteenth through 30 of 46 matches. They have only one player, Ron Hulse, who has scored more than two goals in this season’s Championship. Against Birmingham City, possibly the best organized defense in the Premier League, Derby may be reliant on some fortunate randomness to pull off a surprise.

Still, the Rams’ recent performances hint that surprise may be possible. Derby has seven points in their last three matches, a record accumulated against Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Newcastle, who they beat 3-0 on Tuesday. With five wins in their last seven, Derby’s current form is transcending their mediocre league standing.

With the likes of Chucho Benítez and Cameron Jerome, Birmingham has large talent advantages at the back, but should they fall into the common trap first division sides face against lower league competition, Derby’s primed for an upset.

Manchester City vs. Stoke City (12:15 p.m. Saturday, City of Manchester Stadium)

Cup-tied, new Manchester City starlet Adam Johnson is ineligible on Saturday. Patrick Vieira, however, is available, while a knee injury to Craig Bellamy will keep the Welshman out.

It was only two months ago that Stoke City was at Eastlands in league action, on hand for manager Roberto Mancini’s debut. That day, Martin Petrov and Carlos Tévez scored in the Citizens’ convincing 2-0 victory.

Since that December 26th match, Manchester City has racked-up three more wins at home, giving Mancini a perfect record in his four Eastlands matches.

Stoke City can garner some hope from Manchester City’s visit to KC Stadium last weekend, where Hull City’s two physical forwards (Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Jozy Altidore) gave Kolo Touré and Dedryck Boyata trouble. On Saturday, Joleon Lescott, returning from a long term injury, could his place in the center of defense.

Bolton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspur (8:30 a.m. Sunday, Reebok Stadium)

Bolton got a 2-2 victory over Tottenham at the Reebok in October, but that was with Gary Megson, against a Spurs team in better form. Whether you find that reason for encouragement, from Bolton’s point of view, depends on how you feel new manager Owen Coyle has changed the squad and whether those changes match-up will against Tottenham.

Bolton’s hopes take a hit by the absences of Ivan Klasnic and Gary Cahill. Johan Elmander should get the start along side Kevin Davies up top, while Sam Ricketts will become a regular face partnering Zat Knight at the back.

Tottenham barely advanced to the fifth round, needing a replace to knock-out Leeds. Even in the second match, a trip to Elland Road, Harry Redknapp used the FA Cup to rotation some first squad players out. Jermaine Jenas and Sebastien Bassong, semi-regulars throughout the season, got starts.

Spurs Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Aaron Lennon, and Johnathan Woodgate are all expected to miss this match.

Fulham vs. Notts County (10:00 a.m. Sunday, Craven Cottage)

While Notts is the lowest-level side still alive in the FA Cup (League Two), they have been throw into turmoil (again) by their recent sale and the departure of Sven-Göran Eriksson from the club’s director’s seat, again overshadowing the team’s on-field play.

Notts is in seventh in League Two – barely in a playoff spot – but have the second-best goal difference in the league. They are coming off a fourth round match-up with Premier League-side Wigan. Through the Latics took the tie back to a replay at the DW, Notts was the better side in each leg, ultimately winning a deserved 2-0 result.

Fulham has been decimated by injury, with Clint Dempsey out long term, Andy Johnson recently ruled out for the season, and Paul Konchesky yet to return from an ankle injury. Still, the Cottagers dispatched of Burnley 3-0 this weekend. Any Roy Hodgson side will be difficult to overcome.

Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa (10:45 a.m. Sunday, Selhurst Park)

Speaking of teams in turmoil, there’s Crystal Palace, who went into administration on January 27 and were forced to sell Viktor Moses.

Without the corresponding ten point penalty, Palace would be in the middle of a battle for the Championship’s promotion playoffs. Now, they are one point above Reading.

Whereas in previous seasons this would be a dangerous tie for a Villa side that had lacked the depth to deal with multiple, simultaneous competitions, Martin O’Neill has built-up a squad with the size to make runs in the League and FA Cups while still competing for Europe.

That depth will be tested with fitness doubts for Emile Heskey, Stephen Warnock, Stiliyan Patrov and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Also expect run-outs at the back for Curtis Davies and Habib Beye, who will be tasked with helping contain Palace’s leading goal scorer, Darren Ambrose.