The FA Cup quarter-finals draw was made on Thursday, February 11, 2021, with cracking ties between four of the top seven teams in the Premier League. We have the draw below, and then a quick analysis after that.
Full FA Cup quarter-final draw:
Everton vs Manchester City
Bournemouth vs Southampton
Leicester City vs Manchester United
Chelsea vs Sheffield United
The ties are scheduled to take place over the weekend of March 20 and 21.
Everton are seventh in the league with two games in hand and three points behind fourth-place Liverpool, which puts them in a good place to sneak into the top four as long as form permits.
However, their opponents are the runaway league leaders Manchester City, and it will be a tough ask for the Toffees to progress. By March, they’ll have a better idea of where they are in the league and which competition they need to prioritise.
Championship side Bournemouth play south-coast rivals and Premier League team Southampton where they will fancy their chances of causing an upset and progressing to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Leicester City host Manchester United in the other standout tie of the draw, as the third-placed team faces the second-placed team in a game that should, on paper, favour the hosts.
Despite United’s impressive recent record against Leicester, the timing of the tie and where the two teams are in the league and Europa League will determine how well they’ll play here.
United have a tendency to fight for everything (to their detriment in the league), but we’ll see where the team is closer to March 20 before any predictions.
The final tie sees Chelsea host bottom-placed Premier League side Sheffield United in the easiest game of the draw.
Chelsea progressed to the quarter-finals by beating Championship side Barnsley 1-0, and have looked good under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
The Blues are a point behind Liverpool in the league and will be hoping to build on their improvement in form and finish this season with winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League.
You can live stream the FA Cup next month when the quarter-finals are played in March.
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