Big Weekend: Aston Villa v Newcastle, Arsenal, Arne Slot, Crysencio Summerville | OneFootball

It’s FA Cup fourth-round weekend! Let’s get excited!

Always a tricky weekend, is FA Cup fourth-round weekend. Tends to feel a bit betwixt and between, neither nowt nor summat. Lacking both the magical all-things-are-possible wonderment of third-round weekend and the glory-in-our-sights potential of the later rounds, while still having the nerve and temerity to force the whirligig Premier League to grind to a halt for a few days.

There’s always a fascination with how teams might approach this weekend. Is it welcome respite from the league endeavours, or a mildly irritating distraction? It’s still too early to think about it as a real trophy chance for all but the biggest beasts, but the prospect of the remaining months of the season at this still early stage containing nothing but the completion of league formalities always feels distinctly joyless.

Let’s all try and enjoy it, is what we’re getting at here. In a way. It can still be a Big Weekend. Shut up, it can.

Game to watch: Aston Villa v Newcastle

Both picked up welcome wins over relegation stragglers in the week, but the contrasting nature of their needs remains stark. Villa needed their win to give their faint but lingering title hopes a shot in the arm; Newcastle to avoid getting dragged into an embarrassing relegation battle alongside the hopeless Spurs team they somehow only beat 2-1.

Both teams still have continental ambitions as well, which makes Newcastle’s win over Spurs particularly timely. Had they lost that one – don’t laugh, it really was theoretically possible for that to have happened – then this would have started to look like a further commitment they could have done without. Now it looks more like a further opportunity to keep the meaningful part of their season going now the threat of something catastrophic in the league is over at least.

For Villa you’d still imagine the two routes into next year’s Champions League – a top-five finish and/or winning the Europa League – remain the top priority. But with no punishment round for them in Europe and an eight-point gap over sixth-placed Liverpool in the league they can give the FA Cup a bit of a bash too.

All-Barclays FA Cup ties in the early rounds can go one of two ways, but the hope is that this one sits nicely in the sweet spot for it to be entertainingly loose in a tournament that is neither side’s tip-top priority but also not an afterthought for either.

Team to watch: Arsenal

February is often where the pinch-points really start to bite for prospective quadruple chasers, and the shortest month is often where the dreams start to fade.

Arsenal aren’t anywhere near that stage yet, but the inability to make their clear superiority decisively count in the Premier League is just starting to grate. They were minutes away from ending last weekend with a nine-point lead, yet now it’s down to four after a 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday night.

Now comes an FA Cup fourth-round clash that is the second of three games they play before the North London Derby while stupid Spurs have their trotters up.

But it is worth noting that these extra games Arsenal must squeeze in because of their continued involvement in both domestic cups are against Wigan and Wolves. It is further worth noting that Spurs are terrible and don’t even have a manager.

The overwhelmingly likely outcome of the rest of the month’s activities is that Arsenal remain firmly on track while plunging their neighbours deeper into despair.

The point here is that yes, you are going to be playing more games than other teams when quad-chasing. And yes, somewhere along the way something will probably go awry in one of those competitions as fatigue and a relentless schedule bite.

But it remains infinitely preferable to the alternative. Well, preferable to the ‘being Spurs’ alternative anyway. Maybe not preferable to the ‘Being talked about as quadruple contenders but then watching Man City actually do the quadruple without anyone either noticing or caring’ which remains amusingly possible.

Manager to watch: Arne Slot

Two managers who might be hoping the FA Cup provides a bit of relief from the pressure they’ve been under meet at Anfield, where Liverpool welcome Brighton.

Again, the nature of their struggles might differ, but the reality amounts to the same for the poor sods in charge. Liverpool are struggling to keep afloat in a battle for Champions League football they never expected to find themselves in; Brighton are struggling to keep afloat in a battle for Premier League survival they never expected to find themselves in.

Both managers have lost large sections of their fanbase in recent weeks and sit noticeably prominent in a Sack Race market that has been ripped up and started again this week already by the departures of Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche.

There is still every chance we haven’t seen the last managergeddon action of the season, and Liverpool and Brighton remain two of the possible sources of further shenanigans.

Brighton have themselves already enjoyed the respite of FA Cup action against a beleaguered giant, toppling Man United just before Michael Carrick came along to fix absolutely everything definitely for good this time, but it hasn’t helped their league form much – or at all really – and didn’t get them any help in the fourth-round draw either.

Player to watch: Crysencio Summerville

Always a hiding to nothing on FA Cup weekends, this category. An impossible minefield of second-guessing and hunches.

We’re certain that Nuno Espirito Santo will shuffle his West Ham pack significantly on this rare weekend away from the desperate if increasingly encouraging fight for Premier League survival, but such are the Hammers’ attacking options that there really is only so much shuffling he can achieve.

The last thing West Ham want is to allow this game against Burton to become a momentum-killer, and a look at the squad does suggest that at least one of Nuno’s in-form big guns will probably start.

It could even be Jarrod Bowen, but we suspect it will be Summerville, who’s scored five goals in his last six games having not managed a single goal all season before that.

The fact that run and what it’s helped West Ham achieve in the league all began in the previous round of this competition against QPR is itself a reminder to Nuno that it wouldn’t do to take his eye off the benefits a cup run can bring. Dr FA Cup, if you will.

Football League game to watch: Coventry v Middlesbrough

We’re having to extend the weekend to Monday night here, which is an extraordinary liberty but rendered necessary by this clash of second v first in the Championship.

Long-time leaders Coventry have lost top spot to Boro after a significant wobble in recent weeks has seen them lose to mid-table QPR and Norwich and held to an irritating goalless draw by 10-man League One-bound Oxford.

Doesn’t seem an ideal time to face their usurpers, who are flying under Kim Hellberg and have won their last six Championship games in a row and will be looking to extend the unexpected lead they now hold

European game to watch: Inter v Juventus

What had for much of the season looked like it was shaping up to be Europe’s best title race is now in danger of turning into an Inter procession.

Since a 1-0 defeat to local rivals Milan in November they have won 11 of their 12 Serie A games, the only blot coming in a 2-2 draw with Napoli.

This weekend’s clash with Juventus isn’t quite the last chance to keep it interesting, but it’s not far off and even then it’s unlikely to be Juve who’ll benefit. Even victory would leave them nine points off the pace.

But the hope for Milan and Napoli is that when Inter have struggled this season it’s been against their direct rivals. They have already lost to Juve and Milan in the league this season, while taking just a point from two games against Napoli.

Women’s Super League game to watch: Chelsea v Liverpool

Chelsea’ iron grip on the WSL title has gone this season, with the focus now less on a futile bid to reel in runaway leaders Man City and more on making sure they secure Champions League football next season.

Victory over strugglers Liverpool would appear mandatory there, but the visitors have now won two of their last three games after winning none of their first 12 and are in their own scrap with West Ham – who have also started winning games in recent weeks – and Leicester to avoid the relegation play-off.