Derby head into Monday night’s FA Cup clash with West Ham in great spirits and will fancy their chances of being competitive. The Rams hammered Barnsley 3-0 in the last round and are on a 19-match unbeaten run in all competitions, including a stalemate at Liverpool in the EFL Cup.
Accrington only booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round on Tuesday night so have had little time to prepare for the visit of Premier League side Leeds. To make matters worse, Stanley needed extra time to get past National League outfit Boreham Wood so the quick turnaround will do them no favours.
Antonio Conte doesn’t tend to take too many chances with the strength of his FA Cup selections, so Tottenham should be too good for Preston. The Italian lifted this trophy when in charge of Chelsea and is expected to target another decent run with Spurs this season.
Man Utd have all but booked one trip to Wembley this season in the EFL Cup and can march on in the FA Cup by easing past Reading. These teams have met twice in this competition since the Royals were last a Premier League club, with United prevailing 4-0 in 2017 and 2-0 four years ago.
Tottenham suffered a second-half collapse versus Man City but had shown enough to suggest they can prove too strong for Fulham again. Spurs have won seven of the last eight meetings between these teams and have prevailed on six straight trips to Craven Cottage.
Leeds enjoyed a welcome boost when beating Cardiff in the FA Cup on Wednesday but may find Brentford much more formidable foes at Elland Road. The Bees have picked up 13 points out of 15 from their last five Premier League matches and thrashed the Whites 5-2 at home earlier this season.
Crystal Palace snatched a late point against Man Utd on Wednesday and can also hold Newcastle to a draw at Selhurst Park. These teams have already met twice at St James’ Park this season in the Premier League and the EFL Cup, with both games ending in stalemate.
Bundesliga action returns this week after an absence of over two months when RB Leipzig entertain Bayern Munich on Friday night. These teams clashed at this venue in the German Super Cup at the start of the season, when FC Hollywood won a classic encounter 5-3.
With Valentine’s Day approaching, we’ve taken our annual look at which pairs of footballers form the best strike partnerships on the pitch. We’ve measured this across a range of leagues by calculating the combined goalscoring rate of every pairing per 90 minutes spent together.
Leeds showed they are up for the FA Cup when rallying late on at Cardiff and the fourth-round draw has provided them with more incentive. The winners of this replay will visit Accrington or Boreham Wood, so we reckon the Whites should be eyeing a good run this season.
Tottenham have struggled for consistency this season but are traditionally reliable when hosting Arsenal in the Premier League. Spurs have won the last three north London derbies played in front of their own fans and last lost to the Gunners on home turf in the top flight in 2014.
Newcastle and Fulham are both riding the crest of a wave but preference is for the Magpies when they meet at St James’ Park. United prevailed 4-1 at Craven Cottage back in October and the Cottagers have tended to come unstuck when taking on teams above them in the table.
Chelsea are in desperate need of a lift and can hopefully get the better of similarly out-of-sorts Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have hosted four teams from the bottom half of the table so far this term and picked up maximum points on each occasion.
Benfica are blazing a trail at the top of the Liga Portugal Bwin table this term and can see off Sporting in a blockbuster Lisbon derby. The visitors are 12 points back in fourth due mainly to struggling on the road, losing four of eight away games and winning just three.