So Arsenal have successfully avoided another potential banana skin yesterday in the quest to repeat last season’s FA Cup win. We now have the enviable record of nine wins in a row at the Emirates and we seem to be hitting form (and regaining a full squad to choose from) as we enter the “squeaky-bum” time of the season.
We have a tough Champions League game against Monaco approaching fast, but today we will find out who our next opponents are on the road to Wembley. The draw will take place at 7.30pm (UK time) tonight,before Manchester United take on the mighty Preston North End in the last game of this round. All the Fifth Round games so far have produced a winner so here are the allocated FA Cup quarter-final draw numbers:
1 Liverpool
2 Arsenal
3 Aston Villa
4 West Bromwich Albion
5 Bradford City
6 Blackburn Rovers
7 Reading
8 Preston North End or Manchester United
Our route to last years Final was helped by usually being drawn first out of the hat, and after winning 40 of our last 41 FA Cup home ties, we shouldn’t really fear anyone at all at the Emirates, but personally I would rather that e left Liverpool or Man United to meet in the Final. Wouldn’t it be great to beat the Red Devils at Wembley to round of our season?
But if our luck runs out and we are drawn away for a change, I don’t think anyone would be to perturbed if we had to travel to Reading (just up the road!) or even the Midlands clubs of Aston Villa or West Brom. I’ll certainly be happy with Bradford as we owe them a beating up there, and I’ll even accept Blackburn at a push, but the icing on the cake would be a draw between 2 and 8 (in a state, as they say in bingo) and then find that we are facing Preston!
Who would you choose as our best draw tonight?