FA Cup fourth round: Five things to look out for

How many will free scoring City bang in this weekend?

How many will the trio manage against Watford?

We are just in January, but Manchester City have already scored 106 goals in all competitions. City’s attack has simply been blowing teams away. Although they suffered some away blues at the start of the season, all of that has faded away, and they look more menacing than ever – whether it is at the Etihad or away.

Part of the reason for that has been their strike force. Whilst Aguero has been head and shoulders above Dzeko and Negredo in the League, in the Cup competitions it has been a different ball game altogether. In the seven cup matches City have played so far, Negredo has nine goals, while Dzeko is not far behind with eight, and Aguero just has two to his name.

With his strikers raring to go, how many will City score against Watford, a side that is languishing in the bottom half of the championship, a team that has won just once in the last four games?

Will the Black Cats be “harried” off the park?

Will the sale of Joe Lolley affect the conference side’s chances?

Joe Lolley might play well this weekend, he might even score, but even if he does, it won’t come close to matching his last goal in the FA Cup. Because that was the one that sent conference side Kidderminster into the fourth round, where they will play against Sunderland this weekend. That said, with their erstwhile key striker Lolley now at Huddersfield, the Harriers will struggle to get another scalp this weekend. And they come up against a Black Cats side that is high on confidence after their shootout victory in the semifinal of the League Cup, which now means that they will have a legitimate shot at silverware this season.

While the game might be beyond the conference side, the fact that they have come so far has been a big financial boost for them, having had to sell one of their most valuable assets for £250,000 to make ends meet. And irrespective of what happens, a lucrative away fixture against a Premier League side means that the Harriers will go home happy, no matter what happens.

Stakes will be high at Huddersfield

Will Yann Kermorgant (R) fire Charlton in the fifth round?

A clash of two championship sides in the fourth round of the FA Cup is hardly news to get the pulse racing. But considering the fact that the two sides are Huddersfield and Charlton – two sides, who are occupying two very different positions in the form and League table – should certainly make it an enjoyable game.

Charlton managed to get their first win of 2014 thanks to French striker Yann Kermorgant who scored twice in the 3-0 win over League Two side Oxford in the third-round replay on Tuesday, and are currently languishing just above the relegation spots in the League. On the other hand, Huddersfield have just signed striker Joe Lolley from conference side Kidderminster and the young Englishman will certainly be looking to impress, having scored the winner in third round for his former club.

So it is all set for a battle between two strikers, and the winner might just decide the outcome of this match.How will Chelsea respond?

Happy to have finally gotten rid of his man?

The now-imminent sale of the club’s two-time reigning Player of the Year Juan Mata to Man United is surely a bitter pill to swallow for all the Blues out there. But the embarrassment of attacking riches at Mourinho’s disposal means that he won’t have to dwell on that loss too much. Still, it will be interesting to see how the squad responds to the loss of the mercurial Spaniard, when they come up against a side to whom they have already lost this season.

Stoke City aren’t in the greatest of form, but they will take comfort from the fact that they did just beat Chelsea, and a repeat shouldn’t be off the cards. And while it is difficult to imagine Mourinho taking this fixture lightly, he might well be forced to rest some of his big guns, with his side having bigger fish to fry. That might just make for an interesting encounter at the Bridge.

How many Premier League clubs will make it into the fourth round?

Will Meulensteen raise the white flag at Bramall Lane?

We are just in the fourth round of the FA Cup and already seven Premier League teams, including record winners of the FA Cup Manchester United, are out of this year’s competition. Admittedly though, a major contributor to that was the fact that there were five all-Premier League ties, which meant that five weren’t going to make it through no matter what. Aston Villa and West Ham went out in spectacular fashion after fielding less than strong sides.

However, with just one all-Premier League clash this time around, the rest should make it through to the next round. Will that happen? Or will the clubs, with the relegation battle heating up in the League, follow the lead of Aston Villa and West Ham and raise the white flag?