FA Cup Preview: Arsenal vs. Man City showdown headlines fourth round

After some big upsets in the previous stage, the FA Cup continues to roll on. 

The fourth round of the FA Cup, which runs from Jan. 27-30, will try to match the excitement of the previous round that saw reigning champions Liverpool needing a replay to beat Wolves, Manchester City throttle Chelsea, and fifth division side Wrexham stun Coventry City. 

Here’s what you need to know about the FA Cup’s fourth round. 

Single elimination format  

The 16 matches that make up the fourth round are all single elimination and not two-legged, home-and-away affairs.   

If a team loses, they’re eliminated. But if a game is tied after 90 minutes of regulation time, a replay match will be scheduled at a later date where extra time and penalty kicks (if necessary) will determine who moves on.  

The eight winners advance to the fifth round, which kicks off on March 1. 

The marquee matchup: Arsenal vs. Manchester City 

Without question the highlight of the fourth round will see Manchester City host Arsenal on Friday (3:00 p.m. ET) in a battle of the best teams in England. 

Arsenal is coming off a thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester United at home on the weekend, a result that cemented its spot atop the Premier League table with a five-point lead over second-place Manchester City. 

The Gunners have been simply sensational, winning 16 of 19 Premier League games this season (with just one loss) and thrashing third-division Oxford City 3-0 in the third round of the FA Cup. 

Manchester City has kept the pressure on the London-based club and is fresh off a 3-0 win over Wolves in the Premier League last weekend when Norwegian international Erling Haaland bagged a hat trick. Incredibly, he has 25 goals in 19 games in his debut Premier League season. The Blues also laid the hammer down in the third round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Chelsea. 

Managers Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola are known for their free-flowing, fluid soccer, so it’ll be interesting to see if they both go for it on Friday, or if they take a more tactical, measured approach. 

Seeking to avoid a fourth-round exit for the first time since 2014-15, Man City have qualified for the semifinals in each of the last four FA Cup campaigns, and the Blues are also riding a nine-game winning streak in FA Cup home matches. Arsenal has won the FA Cup a record 14 times but has only progressed past the fourth round once since 2017 - but that was when they earned a 2-0 win over Man City in the semifinals of the 2019-20 FA Cup. 

Will West Ham’s woes carry over into the FA Cup? 

West Ham United currently sits 16th in the Premier League table, just a single point above the drop zone after recording a single win in its last eight matches dating back to Oct. 30. 

With less than half of the season remaining, the Hammers face the very real possibility of being relegated if they don’t turn things around quickly. All of which puts even more pressure on manager David Moyes ahead of West Ham’s match away to Derby County on Monday (2:45 p.m. ET). 

West Ham just managed to edge fellow Premier League side Brentford in the previous round of the FA Cup, and now face a potential banana-skin matchup against Derby, who sits fourth in the English third division.  

This will be just the second FA Cup meeting between the two clubs. West Ham beat Derby in the semifinals in 1923 to advance to the final, which was the first soccer match ever to be played at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The Hammers have won the FA Cup on three occasions, most recently in 1980. The Rams’ lone FA Cup title came in 1946. 

Player to watch: Paul Mullin, Wrexham A.F.C. 

While the Premier League teams tend to dominate the headlines, it’s been a modest Welsh team competing in the English fifth division that has been the talk of the FA Cup so far. 

Wrexham A.F.C., which is co-owned by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, has made it to this far after coming through the qualifying rounds, and then getting the better of fellow fifth-division club Oldham Athletic and sixth-division side Farnborough F.C. at home in the first two rounds. The Red Dragons followed that up by pulling off the biggest upset of the third round when it defeated second-division outfit Coventry City, winner of the FA Cup in 1987, on the road earlier this month. 

Central to Wrexham’s FA Cup run has been forward Paul Mullin, who leads the tournament in scoring.  Thus far, he’s scored six goals in five FA Cup games, including the decisive strike in the win over Coventry. Mullin will be looking to add to his impressive goal tally when Wrexham hosts second division team Sheffield United on Sunday (11:30 a.m. ET). 

Mullin, 28, was the fifth division’s top scorer and MVP in 2021-22 when he scored 26 goals in 38 games for Wrexham.  

Junior Hoilett carrying the Canadian flag 

The third round saw Canadian midfielder Ismaël Koné, 20, make his debut for Watford following his transfer from CF Montreal in December. 

Koné played the full 90 minutes and gave a decent account of himself, but that wasn’t enough to prevent a 2-0 loss to Reading in a matchup of teams from England's second-tier Championship. 

Fellow Canadian Junior Hoilett, 32, didn’t dress for Reading in that game even though he’s been a regular starter for The Royals this season. 

But the expectation is that manager Paul Ince, a two-time FA Cup winner as a player, will deploy the Canadian winger as he’ll need all hands on deck if Reading is going to upset Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday (3:00 p.m. ET). Hoilett, a native of Brampton, Ont., has three FA Cup goals in nine appearances over the course of his career.