FA Cup fourth round: Team news, previews, stats – Man Utd vs Liverpool heads bill

Keep track of FA Cup fourth round on Sky Sports digital platforms across the weekend; follow live blogs of Chelsea vs Luton, Manchester United vs Liverpool, Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe vs Tottenham

Saturday 23 January 2021 19:49, UK

The FA Cup fourth round action continues on Sunday, with a number of potential shocks – and a big clash between Man Utd and Liverpool.

Chelsea vs Luton, Sunday 12pm

Team news: Frank Lampard is expected to field a strong line-up in a bid to spark Chelsea into form.

N’Golo Kante could be back after hamstring trouble, while Timo Werner may start having been on the bench for Monday’s 2-0 loss at Leicester. Billy Gilmour could step into midfield, with the young Scot pushing hard for a start. Tino Anjorin could be one of few academy youngsters to step into the matchday squad.

Dan Potts could start at centre-back for a Luton side looking for another big performance. However, Tom Lockyer’s red card appeal was successful and he is available for selection. Kal Naismith could step in at left-back to complete the reshuffle if required.

Stat of the match: Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has been involved in 25 goals in 32 FA Cup appearances in his career (16 goals, 9 assists), including 19 in 20 starts in the competition (12 goals, 7 assists).

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Brentford vs Leicester, Sunday 2.30pm

Team news: Brentford are without top scorer Ivan Toney through suspension. The 16-goal striker serves a one-match ban after he was sent off against Luton in midweek. Josh Dasilva is also unavailable as he completes a three-game suspension.

Pontus Jansson and Christian Norgaard are both sidelined by ankle problems and Shandon Baptiste is a long-term absentee with a knee injury.

Leicester forward Jamie Vardy needs groin surgery and will be out for a few weeks. The striker has been nursing the injury for a number of months and will now have an operation.

Ayoze Perez is likely to deputise up front while Danny Ward, Christian Fuchs, Ricardo Pereira and Daniel Amartey could all be handed starts. Dennis Praet is out until April with a thigh problem while Wes Morgan will also miss the trip to west London.

Stat of the match: Since returning to the Premier League in 2014, Leicester have reached the FA Cup fifth round in four of the previous six seasons, failing only in 2015-16 and 2018-19.

Fulham vs Burnley, Sunday 2.30pm

Team news: Fulham have no new injury concerns. However, Scott Parker is expected to make a number of changes with his side facing their third successive midweek game against Brighton on Wednesday.

An update is expected on the state of Tom Cairney’s knee injury later on Friday – the club captain has not featured since December 19. Defender Terence Kongolo remains sidelined for a few weeks with a hamstring problem.

Burnley left-back Charlie Taylor is unlikely to feature after sustaining a hamstring injury in Thursday’s Premier League win at Liverpool. The defender, playing his first match in almost a month, appeared to aggravate a hamstring problem which kept him sidelined and Erik Pieters will most likely replace him at Craven Cottage.

Manager Sean Dyche may decide to give Jay Rodriguez and Matej Vydra a run up front after the exertions of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes at Anfield.

Stat of the match: After winning their first FA Cup meeting with Burnley back in January 1912, Fulham have been eliminated from each their subsequent five ties with the Clarets in the competition, most recently in February 2003.

Manchester United vs Liverpool, Sunday 5pm

Team news: Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer plans to rotate. Dean Henderson, Donny Van De Beek and Alex Telles are among those pushing to start, while Solskjaer has given Victor Lindelof the green light to be involved despite a nagging back issue seeing him miss Wednesday’s win at Fulham.

Brandon Williams and Phil Jones have been ruled out recently, while Amad Diallo has yet to be involved since his big-money arrival. Facundo Pellistri was prevented from being involved in the third round against Watford due to a positive Covid-19 test.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will make changes after a first home league defeat in almost four years but will still field a strong side.

Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were both substitutes for Thursday’s shock defeat to Burnley and are expected to start. Captain Jordan Henderson is unlikely to be risked after missing the last match with a minor groin problem while the likes of James Milner, Curtis Jones, Takumi Minamino and goalkeeper Caoihmin Kelleher are set to be included.

Stat of the match: Liverpool have been eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester United more than they have any other opponent in the competition’s history (9, including final defeats).

Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday, Sunday 8pm

Team news: Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back in contention for Everton. He has missed the last three games due to a hamstring strain, but is expected to start in the fourth-round clash.

Boss Carlo Ancelotti still has a lengthy injury list to contend with as Allan, Fabian Delph, Lucas Digne, Alex Iwobi and Niels Nkounkou are all still unavailable. Jean-Philippe Gbamin is closing in on a return to full training.

Sheffield Wednesday’s caretaker manager Neil Thompson could be boosted by the return of a couple of players for his side’s first game since January 9.

The Owls, who have only recently reopened their training ground following a coronavirus outbreak, have been without the likes of Josh Windass, Chey Dunkley, Keiren Westwood, Massimo Luongo and Julian Borner. Thompson was keeping his cards close to his chest, but revealed two unnamed players had returned to full training.

Stat of the match: This will be the 20th FA Cup match (including replays) between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, the third most-played match in the competition’s history. Everton have progressed from the last five ties, most recently a fourth-round meeting in 1989-90.

Monday’s games

Wycombe vs Tottenham, Monday 7.45pm

Team news: Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth has confirmed he has enough players to fulfil his side’s FA Cup fourth-round tie with Tottenham and will have to assess a couple of them before Monday night’s game.

The Chairboys have not played for the last two weeks due to a coronavirus outbreak, seeing games against QPR and Sheffield Wednesday called off, and they only returned to training on Thursday. There are also a couple of unnamed injuries, while Anthony Stewart (knee) is still missing.

Dele Alli is a doubt for Tottenham through injury. Jose Mourinho confirmed Alli has been suffering with a “tendon” injury but does not expect it to keep him out long-term.

Elsewhere, Matt Doherty has an unspecified problem and Serge Aurier has been feeling unwell. Giovani Lo Celso is the only definite absentee with a hamstring problem. Mourinho has said he will rotate his team but will take a full-strength squad.

Stat of the match: This is just the second competitive meeting between Wycombe and Tottenham, with Spurs winning 4-3 in an FA Cup fourth-round match in 2016-17.

FA Cup 2020/21 – key dates and draw

The FA Cup schedule has been confirmed, with the final set to take place at Wembley on Saturday May 15.

There will be no replays this season to help ease fixture congestion.

  • Fifth round: Wednesday February 10
  • Quarter-finals: Saturday March 20
  • Semi-finals: Saturday April 17
  • Final: Saturday May 15

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