FA Cup holders Manchester City handed fourth-round trip to Tottenham

By Sports Desk January 08, 2024

FA Cup holders Manchester City have been handed a fourth-round trip to Tottenham, while sixth-tier Maidstone will head to Sky Bet Championship promotion-chasers Ipswich.

Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning City side, who cruised past Huddersfield 5-0 on Sunday in round three, have lost all five of their previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in all competitions.

Spurs have not won the FA Cup since 1991 and are without a trophy since lifting the 2008 League Cup. Ange Postecoglou’s men progressed to round four thanks to Pedro Porro’s stunning strike in a 1-0 triumph over Burnley on Friday night.

Vanarama National League South side Maidstone, who beat Stevenage 1-0 in the third round on Saturday, are the lowest-ranked side left in the competition.

Maidstone manager George Elokobi is relishing the trip to Portman Road to face the Tractor Boys, who sit second in the Championship table and were 3-1 third-round winners at AFC Wimbledon.

“It is a terrific draw for us,” Elokobi said on Sky Sports News. “It is a fantastic location geographically, it is reachable for our Maidstone United community.

“It is important we enjoy this draw. Ipswich are a Premier League club in the making, they are flying high in the Championship, so it is a great draw for us.

“I said if we didn’t draw a Premier League club, then the next best thing was a Championship club.

“To pick out Ipswich, who have a great support behind them, is going to be a great occasion for our club, for our community and our owners.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for our players to go out, express themselves and enjoy the day with our fanbase.”

Liverpool, who beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, will be at home against either Norwich or Bristol Rovers.

National League Eastleigh were also in the draw after earning a replay against League Two Newport.

The winners of that tie will go on to host Wigan or Manchester United, who are playing on Monday night, while League Two Wrexham will be away at Championship side Blackburn.

There will be more all-Premier League ties with Chelsea at home to Aston Villa, Sheffield United taking on Brighton and Fulham facing Newcastle.

Bournemouth will host Swansea, while the winner of Crystal Palace and Everton will be at home to Luton or Bolton.

West Ham and Nottingham Forest could also meet in round four if they come through their respective replays against Bristol City and Blackpool.

Brentford or Wolves will travel to West Brom, while Championship leaders Leicester will be at home against either Hull or Birmingham.

There will be all-Championship ties between Watford and Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry with Leeds at home against Plymouth.

The fourth-round ties will take place across the weekend of January 26-29.

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