The FA Cup quarter-final draw is made
There seem to be plenty of reasons to bash the FA Cup right now.
Firstly VAR has produced plenty of controversy during the tournament, most notably during West Brom’s win at Liverpool and today, as Manchester United beat Huddersfield 2-0.
Then came the FA Cup quarter-final draw, despite the fact there are two FA Cup fifth round games to go.
Tottenham head to Rochdale on Sunday, whilst Wigan host Manchester City on Monday.
When it did come, the FA Cup quarter-final draw looked like this:
- Sheffield Wednesday or Swansea vs Rochdale or Tottenham
- Man Utd vs Brighton
- Leicester vs Chelsea
- Wigan or Man City vs Southampton
Was the FA Cup quarter-final fixed?
Before the FA Cup draw was made, many felt that the big four Premier League sides left in the competition would be kept apart.
That way, it seems likely that Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are strong favourites to make the semi-finals.
Then the FA, and their television partners can enjoy a semi-final stage that features two blockbuster matches and then a final between two of the Premier League Big 4.
Matt Le Tissier predicted a “fixed” FA Cup draw
Now a pundit on Sky Sports, Matt Le Tissier does not hide the fact that he is a big Southampton fan.
Before the draw was made, Le Tissier suggested the big four in the Premier League would be kept apart.
And, so it proved to be…
Whats the odds of the big 4 teams left in avoiding each other ?
— Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) February 17, 2018
Le Tissier after the draw:
Well i never 🤷🏼♂️
— Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) February 17, 2018
And, there are a fair few football fans on Twitter who feel the FA Cup draw was fixed…
Second season in a row that the FA Cup Quarter Final draw is fixed to try and get 4 top 6 clubs in the semi finals at Wembley. Not remotely suspicious at all.
— Sibs (@SibsMUFC) February 17, 2018
Nicely fixed FA Cup draw, big clubs be eating again
— Lee (@LPHManc) February 17, 2018
the draw is 100% fixed lol, how can there be 4 big teams in the quarters in both carabao and fa cup and not draw each other once, was the case with fa cup last year, but chelsea had to play united cos there was 5 big teams so someone had to meet each other in terms of big clubs
— Lukas (@LukasCFCLakers) February 17, 2018
FA cup is fixed. None of the top sides meet yet again
— Pullman (@AndrewOkello) February 17, 2018
FA Cup draw is 100% fixed. They aren’t even hiding it anymore
— Ryan Larkin (@Larkin8) February 17, 2018
Related: Juan Mata’s classy response to VAR disallowed Man United goal at Huddersfield.
