Fansided

3 potential FA Cup upsets: Southampton beat Tottenham

By Peter Johnstone

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 13: Nathan Redmond of Southampton celebrates a goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St Mary's Stadium on April 13, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 13: Nathan Redmond of Southampton celebrates a goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St Mary's Stadium on April 13, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

The Premier League makes way for the FA Cup this weekend with plenty of exciting 4th round ties. Here are three potential upsets that we could see happening this weekend.

The magic of the FA Cup is almost upon us again with 15 exciting ties to be played out over the course of the weekend. There are a lot of great matchups but we’ve highlighted three tie we think could end with an underdog victory.

On Friday, Northampton host derby and QPR welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Loftus Road. Brentford host Leicester in Saturday’s early match whilst Tottenham face a difficult trip to Southampton later in the day.

Manchester City host Fulham whilst Liverpool travel to face Shrewsbury on Sunday. The 4th round is closed out on Monday when Arsenal face a tough match away at Bournemouth.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 08: Manager of Leicester City Brendan Rodgers with Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City at the end of the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Leicester City at Villa Park on December 8, 2019 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 08: Manager of Leicester City Brendan Rodgers with Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City at the end of the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Leicester City at Villa Park on December 8, 2019 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images) /

3. Brentford triumph over Leicester

The early game on Saturday sees Leicester travel to Brentford in a match-up that shouldn’t be too straightforward. Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester side have been brilliant this season and they’re holding their own as the best team after Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League.

FA Cup ties are tricky though and Brentford won’t be worried about Leicester’s impressive form. The Bees have been in some good form themselves and are knocking on the door of the automatic promotion spots in the English Championship.

They are just five points back from second-placed Leeds and if they continue to play at their current level then they should secure a play-off position at least this season. This game is a one-off opportunity for Brentford and there’s no pressure on them to get anything from this game.

Unlike some Premier League managers, Brendan Rodgers will want his side to remain competitive on all fronts. Rodgers’ has demonstrated this with his team’s performances in the League Cup this season which have taken them to the semifinals with a very good chance of reaching the final.

In this game they will probably dominate the ball but it’s about how effective they can be with possession and how well Brentford can defend. Aston Villa showed recently that it’s possible to keep Leicester out with some rigid defensive work and Brentford will need to look to that in order to get a result this weekend.

If the Bees can do that first then it’s all about taking their chance when it comes. Brentford fans will be hoping that any chances fall to their talented forward, Ollie Watkins. Watkins is the Championship’s joint top-scorer with 18 goals this season and with the backing of the home crowd he will fancy his chances of getting on the scoresheet this weekend.

Leicester will be without Jamie Vardy who went off injured against West Ham in midweek. This means they will look to James Maddison and Ayoze Perez for goals this weekend but neither of those players really has the ruthless finishing of Vardy.

Brentford will frustrate Leicester and score a goal on a quick counter-attack. The Bees will hold on to secure a huge 1-0 win that will see them progress to the next round of the cup.

Home/Soccer