FA Cup 2024/25 fifth round draw: as it happened, City and United handed home ties

Cheers for tuning in to our live draw coverage ... A reminder that the definitive kick-off times and dates should be published by the FA in the next few days.

Looking with a little more detail at te draw and it's difficult to see any of the away sides progressing with the home game angle a huge boost.

But before we move onto the 5th round, there are still two fourth round games yet to be resolved as Doncaster Rovers play Crystal Palace tonight and Exeter taking on Forest tomorrow.

Three tasty all Premier League affairs on the cards with United taking on Fulham.

Bournemouth (a solid outside bet in my book) hosting Wolves and Newcastle vs Brighton.

there we go ...eight games and what a reward for Plymouth after their heroics against Liverpool. A tough, tough draw for the Pilgrims. 

and finally

Exeter/Forest vs Ipswich

Man City vs Plymouth

Bournemouth vs Wolves

Newcastle Utd vs Brighton

Man United vs Fulham

Doncaster or C. Palace vs Millwall

next up

Aston Villa vs Cardiff City

First tie is:

Preston vs Burnley

Eight ties coming up.... 

5th round ball numbers

1. Manchester United
2. Millwall
3. Brighton & Hove Albion
4. Preston North End 
5. Exeter City or Nottingham Forest
6. Ipswich Town
7. Wolverhampton Wanderers
8. Fulham
9. Newcastle United
10. Plymouth Argyle
11. AFC Bournemouth
12. Aston Villa
13. Burnley
14. Manchester City
15. Doncaster Rovers or Crystal Palace
16. Cardiff City

BBC presenter Kelly Somers and ex-Arsenal players Alex Scott and Theo Walcott will be on hand to draw the balls out in a matter of moments.

Here we go.... draw time !!!!

United ball No. 1

The Red Devils (and current FA Cup holders) are ball number one among the 16 this evening.

Could the cup offer a lifeline to Ruben Amorim's side this season?

When will the fifth round games be played?

A few days after the draw, we will discover the precise dates and kick-off times for the eight games from the round of 16.

Despite the FA stating that games will be played over the weekend of March 1st, a game on the last day of February cannot be ruled out.

Hold fire on any travel plans until the official kick-off times are confirmed.

We're into the 'final countdown' with the draw just minutes away.

A Manchester derby... two very tricky away Championship grounds to navigate with no team wanting to face Millwall or Cardiff away... all possible draws this evening.

A M23 derby too is a possibility between Crystal Palace and Brighton with no love lost between the respective fan groups.

Exeter & Forest ball number 5

The Grecians will face in-form Nottingham Forest as part of the Tuesday game and will take inspiration from local side Plymouth who famously beat Liverpool in Sunday's cup surprise.

The match at St. James Park will bring an end to five days of intense FA Cup fourth round activty.

Arsenal, FA Cup's most successful participants absent

Arsenal are in fact the team who have won the most FA Cups in English football history. They have a total of 14 trophies in their cabinet, ahead of Man United with 13 and Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs all tied in third place with 8 each.

Only the Red Devils remain in the competition from this elite list of teams.

Muslic motivation

This was the brief speech that Plymouth's head coach Miron Muslic delivered to his team after they caused the biggest cup upset in years by eliminating Liverpool.

He now needs to prepare his side for challenges in the Championship where his side prop up the table.

How does the FA Cup draw work?

Unlike other cup draws where a seeded system is used, the FA Cup draw is pure on every level... 

There are no seeded teams, no preference given to teams from lower ranked categories and the team drawn first plays at home.

Some may argue that tonight's draw throwing up a hypothetical Manchester derby is taking away a blockbuster fixture that should ideally be a game for a semi-final.

A valid point but, in this day and age when most competitions favour the 'bigger' teams, a pure draw is somewhat refreshing.

Doncaster flying the flag for the 'Davids'

Currently playing in League 2 (fourth tier of the English pyramid), Doncaster Rovers welcome Crystal Palace for the Monday night game with the Eco Power Stadium side the lowest ranked in the competition.

These teams have ball number 15 allocated to them tonight.

Spot kicks decide two ties

There was a small degree of controversy last season when the FA confirmed that they would be doing away with replays as a means of lessening the burden on an already packed fixture list.

The smaller clubs were, understandably angry as replays were a source of badly needed income.

Just two games needed to be resolved from the spot in this fourth round with Preston edging out Wycombe and Cardiff prevailing at the expense of Stoke City.

FA Cup: key dates

Fifth Round - Saturday 1 March 2025
Quarter Final - Saturday 29 March 2025
Semi Final - Saturday 26 April 2025
Final - Saturday 17 May 2025

Big guns fall at fourth round hurdle

Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton and Southampton all fell at this fourth round stage with Leicester City the other top flight side waving farewell to the competition. 

With two games yet to play, nine Premier League clubs survive and will learn their fate in less than an hour when the draw takes place.

Cup sees Rashford Villa debut

After being frozen out by Manchester United boss Amorim, the striker secured a loan move to Villa Park and made his debut for Unai Emery's side on Sunday.

Rashford entered the action in the 66th minute and it would be interesting to see if tonight's draw threw up a United-Villa clash. 

Favourites to lift the Cup

Manchester City have been installed as favourites by the bookmakers to bag the trophy at Wembley Stadium next May.

They are followed by Newcastle and Man United. In-form AFC Bournemouth are a very solid outside bet !

Who is on draw duty this evening ?

The draw event is set to be presented by BBC's Kelly Somers and she will be assisted by former England and Arsenal players Alex Scott and Theo Walcott drawing the balls out.

A reminder that Arsenal are no longer in the competition.

Orient strike from the halfway line

This was the opener at Brisbane Road as Jamie Donely caught the City keeper off his line with a speculative strike.

Manchester duo squeak through

United started the fourth round ball rolling and came from behind to beat Leicester City at Old Trafford. 

The winning goal was shrouded in controversy with Harry Maguire well offside with the winner infuriating Foxes boss Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

City had to dig deep in East London as they trailed Leyton Orient at the break.

However strikes from Khusanov and De Bruyne saved City's blushes.

Pilgrims stun Reds

Who would have imagined that Plymouth Argyle, who currently prop up the Championship table would have been able to deliver a major cup upset and knock out the mighty Liverpool FC.

The Reds are unquestionably one of the top teams currently in European football and top the Premier League table.

Their elimination in Devon on Sunday thus ends any hope Arne Slot's men had of winning a quadruple this season.

The 16 teams in the draw*

1. Manchester United
2. Millwall
3. Brighton & Hove Albion
4. Preston North End 
5. Exeter City or Nottingham Forest
6. Ipswich Town
7. Wolverhampton Wanderers
8. Fulham
9. Newcastle United
10. Plymouth Argyle
11. AFC Bournemouth
12. Aston Villa
13. Burnley
14. Manchester City
15. Doncaster Rovers or Crystal Palace
16. Cardiff City

* despite this being the draw for the last 16, there are still two fourth round ties yet to be played with Doncaster taking on Palace tonight and Forest travelling to Exeter tomorrow evening.

What time is the FA Cup fourth round draw?

The draw tonight forms part of the BBC TV's 'The One Show' and is earmarked to take place at approximately 2:10 pm (ET).

Welcome!

Hello and a warm welcome to the draw for the fifth round of the world's oldest football tournament: the FA Cup.

Stay with us as we steer you through the draw and keep you with all the latest news relating to the FA Cup ahead of the draw with our build-up.