Remaining Premier League clubs ranked by how much they need FA Cup glory
Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are all out of the FA Cup, giving 11 Premier League clubs extra motivation to go all the way.
Which of the remaining clubs really desperately need to win The Oldest Competition In World Football? We have ranked them by how much they should give a f***…
11) Ipswich Town
We are giddy about seeing a Championship team in the Europa League, but we need it more than Ipswich Town. Their focus is on staying in the Premier League.
10) Wolves
Although Vitor Pereira named a strong starting XI against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, we all know the Portuguese cares a lot more about Premier League safety than the FA Cup.
9) Nottingham Forest
Winning the FA Cup could put the cherry on top of the cake for Forest this season. If you ask their entire fanbase to choose between Champions League qualification and a cup win, it would likely be split down the middle. Had you asked them at the start of the season, they would have p**sed themselves laughing and muttered something about relegation and Leicester…
8) Bournemouth
Like Forest, Bournemouth might feel they have bigger fish to fry with the smell of Champions League football tempting Andoni Iraola to toss all his eggs into the Premier League basket.
Winning the FA Cup would be absolutely fantastic for the Cherries but just imagine the Vitality hosting Champions League nights…oof.
They will believe they can make both realistic targets but there are quite a few injuries Iraola has been forced to contend with.
READ MORE: 427 reasons to start taking Bournemouth very, very seriously in Champions League hunt
7) Manchester City
Sure, the FA Cup is City’s best chance of winning a trophy this season and going potless would be a kick in the teeth for Pep Guardiola, but we feel qualifying for the Champions League is a bigger priority.
The only trophyless season in Guardiola’s managerial career came in his first year at City back in 2016/17.
6) Manchester United
Winning the FA Cup glossed over an abysmal Premier League campaign last year – for the Manchester United hierarchy anyway. That glory at Wembley kept Erik ten Hag in a job and sent the Red Devils into Europe at Newcastle’s expense, while knocking Chelsea from the Europa League to Europa Conference League in the process.
A trophy win would be a huge achievement for Ruben Amorim and he is no doubt desperate to lift the FA Cup, but wouldn’t a year with no Thursday-Sunday schedule be lovely? Winning the Europa League is the best-case scenario; winning sod all and finishing outside the Premier League top eight is the second-best-case scenario.
5) Brighton
Winning a trophy would give Brighton supporters something tangible to show for their incredible progression and they are in the same boat as a few teams here who are lingering in mid-table and could qualify for Europe through their league position but won’t. They should and can give this competition a right go.
4) Crystal Palace
Palace have never won a domestic trophy in their 120-year history and let’s be real, they aren’t doing anything in the Premier League this season.
They and Forest still have fourth-round ties against lower-league opposition to navigate and Oliver Glasner’s side have some pretty big Wembley dancing demons to exorcise.
3) Newcastle United
Despite being in the hunt for Champions League qualification, Newcastle would be first if they weren’t already in the Carabao Cup final.
Securing their spot at Wembley does not mean all of their eggs should be in the Carabobbins basket; they are facing an imperious Liverpool (first) team after all.
It has been a whole 70 years since the Magpies last won a major trophy. That is quite a long time and this season’s FA Cup is a realistic target. Eddie Howe made a lot of changes for Saturday’s cracker at Birmingham City but he is not and will not be taking this competition for granted.
2) Fulham
No domestic cup final since 1975. No domestic cup win since…ever.
Fulham are currently ninth in the Premier League and in the hunt for Europe but getting there via an FA Cup win would make all of these players and Marco Silva immortal. They are the biggest ‘Why not?’ team for us.
1) Aston Villa
After a year in the Champions League, Aston Villa fans would surely take winning the FA Cup over finishing fourth (or possibly fifth depending on the coefficient).
There is no reason why they can’t do both and while staying in the Champions League is another task being juggled by Unai Emery, that journey can end at any point with no sense of regret. Without a major trophy since 1996, Villa will be full of regret if they throw away the chance to win this season’s FA Cup, especially with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool missing in action.
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