Football writer Ben Bloom looks at the sides in FA Cup fifth-round action and what to expect.
Just 16 teams remain as the FA Cup reaches the business end of the competition and supporters start to dream of Wembley ahead of the fifth round this weekend.
Lower-tier clubs are in short supply this season, with 11 of the remaining sides plying their trade in the Premier League and the other five coming from the Championship.
Here is everything you need to know about the FA Cup fifth round.
FA Cup fifth-round fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday 28 February
20:00 Aston Villa v Cardiff City
Saturday 1 March
12:15 Crystal Palace v Millwall
12:15 Preston North End v Burnley
15:00 AFC Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers
17:45 Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle
Sunday 2 March
13:45 Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion
16:30 Manchester United v Fulham
Monday 3 March
19:30 Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town
Match previews
Aston Villa v Cardiff City
Unai Emery’s Villa side head into this tie off the back of a demoralising 4-1 midweek defeat at Palace.
Without a major trophy since 1996, Villa have already seen off Premier League opposition in the form of West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur this season.
Due to their Championship relegation battle, Cardiff manager Omer Riza has suggested it is “not possible” for him to field a full-strength side against Villa.
The Welsh club are into the FA Cup fifth round for the first time in 11 years, but seem likely to prioritise upcoming matches against Championship high-fliers Burnley and Sunderland over the following week.
Crystal Palace v Millwall
The last time these two fierce southeast London rivals met, in a 2021 FA Cup third-round tie, Palace edged that encounter by a 2-1 scoreline.
The Eagles will hope to reach the quarter-finals for what would be the fourth time in a decade and go into this match having lost just two out of 10 games in all competitions since the turn of the year.
Millwall sit 12th in the Championship, six points off sixth spot, with a neat symmetry to their campaign in which they have both won and lost 11 matches, while scoring and conceding 34 goals.
Finalists against Manchester United in 2004, they last reached the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2018/19.
Preston v Burnley
The only match of the round not to feature a Premier League club does include one with firm intentions on being part of the top tier next season.
Burnley have been remarkable defensively this campaign, conceding only nine goals in 34 Championship matches. Indeed, their current run of 13 successive league clean sheets sits second behind only Man Utd's 14 (from 2008/09) in the entire Football League history of longest sequences without conceding.
The Clarets' co-owner and former NFL star JJ Watt said he’d come out of retirement if goalkeeper James Trafford didn’t concede for the rest of the season. Following Burnley's 4-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday, he posted on social media that he was "heading to the gym".
Heading to the gym… https://t.co/beQvXraI2H
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 21, 2025
Burnley saw off Premier League strugglers Southampton in the previous round and now face a Preston side who sit 15th in the Championship. Both meetings between these teams this season have ended goalless – this one must be settled on the day.
AFC Bournemouth v Wolves
When these two sides met at Vitality Stadium last weekend, it was Wolves who emerged victorious thanks to a lone Matheus Cunha goal.
Illia Zabarnyi was sent off during the first half and will remain suspended for this rematch, which sees Bournemouth bid to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in their history.
The Cherries were on a 12-match unbeaten run across all competitions through to the end of January, but have now lost three of their last four matches after falling to a 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Tuesday.
Two wins in four have seen Wolves build a five-point buffer between themselves and the Premier League relegation zone.
Man City v Plymouth
With an early UEFA Champions League exit and meek defence of their Premier League title, Man City’s season has gone far from planned.
But Pep Guardiola’s side are starting to cement their place in the top four and have the confidence of beating a resurgent Spurs 1-0 on Wednesday night.
The FA Cup remains their only remaining hope of silverware as they look to upgrade their runners-up status last season.
Despite sitting in the Championship relegation zone, giant-killing Plymouth have already dumped Brentford and Liverpool out of the competition to reach the fifth round.
City and Plymouth have not played each other for 36 years.
Newcastle v Brighton
Newcastle have already booked themselves a shot at a first major piece of domestic silverware for 70 years with the EFL Cup final against Liverpool awaiting them on 16 March.
They head into this game on the back of Wednesday’s dress rehearsal for that final - their 2-0 defeat at Liverpool was their fourth Premier League loss in six matches.
Brighton won their fourth successive game – since a 7-0 drubbing at Nottingham Forest – when beating Bournemouth on Tuesday and sit just one point behind Newcastle in eighth place.
A Danny Welbeck goal was enough for Fabian Hurzeler’s side to come out on top of the previous encounter between these two sides in October.
Man Utd v Fulham
Despite the early loss of Patrick Dorgu to a red card on Wednesday, Man Utd managed to beat Ipswich Town 3-2 to ease pressure on head coach Ruben Amorim, who has endured a tough time at the helm.
His side sit 14th in the Premier League, but are reigning FA Cup holders and progressed direct to the UEFA Europa League round of 16 with ease.
Goals have been in short supply this campaign, although United have beaten Fulham 1-0 twice in the league and have seen off two top-tier sides in Arsenal and Leicester City to reach the fifth round.
The last time these clubs met in the FA Cup in 2023, Fulham imploded to lose the quarter-final 3-1. The visitors were ahead when Willian, Aleksandar Mitrovic and manager Marco Silva were all sent off, sparking United’s comeback.
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich
The fifth round concludes on Monday night with two teams at opposite ends of the Premier League table. Forest remained third, maintaining their bid for Europe, after holding Arsenal to a goalless draw on Wednesday night.
At the bottom, defeat at Man Utd left Ipswich five points from safety and without a league win this calendar year.
This is already the furthest Ipswich have progressed in the FA Cup for almost 20 years, while they have not reached the quarter-finals since 1992/93.
Forest, who made the last eight three seasons ago, have not lost at home against Ipswich in 15 matches, dating back to the turn of the century.
When will the draw for the next round happen?
The draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals is due to take place on Sunday 2 March, immediately after Man Utd’s match against Fulham, which is due to finish around 18:30 GMT unless it goes to extra-time and penalties.
The quarter-final ties will be played over the weekend of 29/30 March, which follows the final international break of the season and precedes a full round of midweek Premier League fixtures on 1/2 April (Matchweek 30).
Depending on which teams progress from the fifth round, that could mean Premier League clubs facing each other twice in three days, while there could feasibly be two Manchester derbies in a week, with City and United also playing each other in Matchweek 31.
