FA Cup fifth-round weekend gives us all a bit of a breather from the chaos and the tension of the Premier League being sh*t now. What better solution could there be at this time than a little sprinkling of FA Cup magic over the mouldering turd of English football? Isn\u2019t it? Hmm? Marvellous.<\/p>\n
Some decent-looking games on the list as well and the chance for a few teams to let their hair down now they and we know they no longer have to give relegation a second thought<\/a>.<\/p>\n And who knows, the ruined modern game\u2019s arch supervillain Mikel Arteta<\/a> might even let quad-chasing Arsenal<\/a> indulge in some football at Mansfield. What a treat that would be for us all.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Game to watch: Newcastle v Man City<\/p>\n Funny old season for Man City, really. On the one hand, here we are well into March and they still have semi-realistic ambitions in all four major trophies. On the other, it does kind of feel like maybe they won\u2019t actually win any of them. And might finish second to Arsenal in at least two.<\/p>\n With the Premier League and Champions League obvious priorities and the Carabao now down to a one-off game, it\u2019s fair to say this competition now sits at the bottom of Pep Guardiola\u2019s big list of priorities and he hasn\u2019t been handed a tie here that his team can simply coast through.<\/p>\n A week ago we\u2019d still have thought Man City get this done, but a week is a long time in football. City\u2019s unexpected and costly stumble against Nottingham Forest<\/a> this week coinciding with 10-man Newcastle so thrillingly ending Michael Carrick\u2019s unbeaten start at Man United<\/a> has changed the mood around this tie significantly.<\/p>\n With Arsenal so clearly the dominant force this season it\u2019s easy to forget that City still have quadruple ambitions of their own, just about, but they will have to improve from their midweek effort if that is to remain the case beyond Saturday night.<\/p>\n As for Newcastle, despite the excitement of Wednesday night, the hard truth is that this competition offers the most plausible escape route from a difficult season. With City here and then Barcelona in the Champions League, there is the very real prospect of the last two months of the season being a complete non-event should the next 10 days or so go badly.<\/p>\n Mind, we can think of at least one large Premier League club who\u2019d absolutely bite your hand off for a meaningless last eight or nine games of the season.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Team to watch: Leeds United<\/p>\n Which is also significant information for Leeds, a team who have a bit more freedom to attack a cup run that hasn\u2019t been that convincing but now offers huge opportunities for a team that no longer has to think quite so hard about securing their Premier League future thanks to the frankly above-and-beyond efforts of Spurs to shoot off all their own limbs.<\/p>\n Leeds aren\u2019t yet entirely safe, and didn\u2019t exactly help themselves in midweek either, but they\u2019re pretty much there. Certainly enough to risk a proper go at what is suddenly a real opportunity to go properly deep in the cup and perhaps even end what is now a 36-year wait for major honours.<\/p>\n Norwich are a different proposition now than they would have been during a harrowing first half of the season where dropping into League One appeared a genuine possibility, but you\u2019d fancy a fully-committed Leeds at Elland Road ought to have more than enough to get this done and secure a quarter-final spot.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Player to watch: Harry Wilson<\/p>\n Always a tricky section on FA Cup weekends when team selection is so unpredictable anyway, so why not double down on a player who missed his team\u2019s last game with injury anyway?<\/p>\n Marco Silva hasn\u2019t sounded too fussed when talking about the ankle injury Wilson picked up against Spurs and that kept him out of the defeat to West Ham, and it does suggest that he could be in contention for a return in what looks a fine opportunity for Fulham.<\/p>\n