FA Cup Fixtures 22nd January Part 2

Preston North End v Chelsea
Manchester United are out, Liverpool are out and I’m an Arsenal supporter so I hope you’ll forgive me for wishing a similar victory for Preston. Paul Parry is still out with a knee injury and as Chelsea’s Rhys Taylor is probably at least their fourth-choice keeper, I doubt he’ll even be on the bench.

Reading v Burnley
Not many people would say Burnley are better than Liverpool. In fact, probably even the most loyal Burnley fan would hesitate to make such a pronouncement. So why shouldn’t Reading beat Burnley too? Simon Church to get the winning goal. If not all the goals.

Southampton v Ipswich Town
Lloyd James will probably play in midfield but Anthony Pulis hasn’t got near the starting line-up since returning from his loan at Lincoln City.

Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United
Gareth Bale has never had a problem winning FA Cup games. In fact, I think all the Cup games he’s lost have been against Manchester United who are after all pretty good. Leeds should not present a problem… but then Leeds are better than Manchester United, aren’t they? Oh dear.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace
Wayne Hennessey might get another chance to start (it’s his birthday on Sunday so let him start. Sam Vokes has attracted the attention of Swansea City but I think Mick McCarthy would probably rather keep him as a supersub. (Well he’s a sub and he’s super so he must be a supersub.) There is mixed news on Dave Edwards. Either he’s still suffering from his ankle injury or he’s recovered or he’s recovered but had a reaction. But his chances of playing probably aren’t very high whichever is true.