FA Cup 4th Round Predictions: Liverpool, Aston Villa Look to Navigate Tricky Ties

A place in the last 16 of English football’s most storied knockout competition is on the line on Saturday, and the FA Cup fourth-round schedule is loaded with potential pitfalls for Premier League heavyweights. Seven ties dot the map, beginning with League One Burton Albion hosting West Ham United in the lunchtime kick-off and ending with Brighton & Hove Albion’s daunting visit to Anfield to face Liverpool under the lights.

Burton, the lowest-ranked side in action, welcome the Hammers to the Pirelli Stadium hoping to replicate the cup shocks that have become the competition’s lifeblood. West Ham, still processing the euphoria of their 2023 Europa Conference League triumph, can ill-afford complacency against a Brewers side buoyed by home support and the knowledge that one bounce of the ball can flip a tie on its head.

Liverpool’s evening assignment looks, on paper, a sterner test. Brighton arrive on the back of a December league defeat at Anfield and carrying the weight of history—only two wins in 53 years on Merseyside. Yet the Seagulls have already demonstrated their taste for an upset this term, winning at Old Trafford to manufacture this tie, and will hark back to 1983 when Jimmy Melia’s team stunned a dominant Liverpool in the fifth round. With Fabian Hürzeler’s side drifting uncomfortably close to the relegation conversation, a cup run could provide timely respite.

The pick of the all-Premier League clashes takes place at Villa Park, where Aston Villa entertain Newcastle United in a repeat of August’s tepid league meeting. Since then, Villa have beaten Newcastle on Tyneside but subsequently fallen off the title pace after successive league defeats. Eddie Howe’s visitors, meanwhile, ended a wretched run of away form with a 2–1 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday, Jacob Ramsey—once of Villa—registering his first goal involvement for the club. The Magpies’ travel sickness remains a concern, yet the cup’s knock-out nature often liberates cautious teams.

Manchester City, finalists last season and fresh from a 10-goal demolition of Exeter City in the previous round, are overwhelming favourites when Salford City pitch up at the Etihad. The Ammies, managed by Karl Robinson, survived a thriller against Swindon Town to earn a second successive glamour tie, but memories of last season’s heavy defeat across Manchester will fuel their desire to keep the scoreline respectable. Pep Guardiola’s side, still alive on four fronts, view the domestic cups as their most realistic route to silverware in what could be the Catalan’s farewell campaign.

Elsewhere, Burnley travel to Mansfield Town, another League One side eager for a scalp, while Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion renew acquaintances in an all-Championship affair. On the south coast, Southampton host Leicester City just days after producing one of the Championship’s great comebacks—trailing 3–0 at the King Power Stadium before winning 4–3 to deepen Leicester’s relegation worries. The Foxes, 2021 FA Cup winners, must quickly regroup or risk a second defeat to the Saints inside a week.

Port Vale’s meeting with Bristol City has fallen victim to a waterlogged pitch, meaning only six ties will conclude on Saturday. Yet with forecasters predicting wind and rain across the country, the conditions may yet level the playing field for the underdogs.

The FA Cup’s fourth round has long been the stage where dreams are extended and seasons are re-ignited. For Liverpool and Aston Villa, the task is clear: navigate tricky ties or join the long list of fallen giants. For Burton, Mansfield, Salford and the rest, the opportunity to etch a permanent line into cup folklore awaits.