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After five seasons of being played midweek, the FA Cup fifth round makes a very welcome return to the weekend.

Seven great matches to take you from Friday to Sunday. It’s the Sound of Football Weekend Boxset.

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All times are UK

Friday

Bundesliga: Stuttgart v Bayern Munich

19.30 on Sky Sports Mix
When these two last met at the MHP Arena it was in early May. Stuttgart won 3-1, pretty much sealing their place in the Champions League. As we know, last season was a rare dip for Bayern Munich and an opportunity for teams like Stuttgart to get one over the record champions. This season, balance has been restored. Bayern are back on the top of the table with an eight-point gap between themselves and Bayer Leverkusen. It would take a catastrophic collapse to prevent the Bavarians from regaining the title, especially after last week, when Vincent Kompany’s team put four past third placed Eintracht Frankfurt. Man of the match was former Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise who scored on the day and plays like a languid Arjen Robben. Missing from the starting line-up was Harry Kane who was a substitute and was denied the opportunity to get on the scoresheet because Bayern did not win a penalty. The England captain has been the beneficiary of his team’s ability to win penalties. Nine of his 21 Bundesliga goals have been from the spot. We covered Stuttgart in the Boxset last week. The Swabians returned from Sinsheim with a point after a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim. Their xG was a healthy 2.16 but they could not capitalise and were undone by a second half strike from Gift Orban. Coach Sebastian Hoeness will be looking to his front-line striker Deniz Undav to deliver. The former Brighton player has only found the net once in the last eight. TD

Saturday

A-League: Macarthur v Sydney

08.35 on TNT Sports 5
A rare thing in the A-League: a match with genuine consequences. Both sides sit just outside the playoffs and with competition fierce for the top six, a loss for either team could put a massive dent in their ambitions to play finals footy. Sydney just recorded their first clean sheet since mid-January at a Perth Glory team who are better than their lowly position may suggest. What’s more this was done by playing four full backs across the back line. It’s not the kind of thing to inspire confidence in the under pressure manager Ufuk Talay, who will be hoping that his forward line find their shooting boots again. Lack of goals is also a big issue for MacArthur, who’ve lost Jed Drew to Europe and Valere Germain to what can be best described as a massive “sook” after the Frenchman flounced off to the J-League in protest against referreeing in the competition (to which the question should be, you have watched the A-League before, Valere?). Both sides are capable of playing sparkling football on their day, but there’s no telling when that day will be or what other days look like. GA

FA Cup fifth round: Crystal Palace v Millwall

12.15 on BBC One & iPlayer
The Wembley Arch is within sight for these two clubs as they enter the fifth round of the Cup. In fairness, the Wembley Arch is literally in sight from a lofty enough vantage point in Thornton Heath and New Cross, but you know what I mean. These two met in this competition as recently in 2022 in the third round where Palace won 2-1 at The Den. The physical distance between the two may be short but they have been leagues apart for some years now. The Lions' advantage will be as an underdog travelling to Selhurst with a large away support in rambunctious mood. There’s a possibility of some additional spice if Romain Esse starts for Palace. The young English attacker was a Millwall player until his £14.5 million transfer to Palace in January. The 19 year old has only made one substitute appearance since his arrival in which he scored. If Palace boss Oliver Glasner decides to rotate then this might be the perfect chance for the young Millwallian to make his first start in red and blue. But Glasner has not rung too many changes in the cup competitions this season and may refrain from tinkering with the team that thrashed Villa on Tuesday. The key man, if selected, for the Eagles will be Adam Wharton who made his first start after a long injury absence against Villa. The England midfielder was sensational and may need a bit of protection if their opponents decide to get all Terry Hurlock on his arse. The Millwall boss is Alex Neil. The coach who left a perfectly decent Sunderland side for a completely shit Stoke side in 2022 with predictable results. A win would go some way in restoring his reputation. TD

FA Cup fifth round: Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle

17.45 on ITV4 and ITVX
The FA Cup serves up another David versus Goliath tie this Saturday when seven times winners, Manchester City, take on relegation threatened Championship side, Plymouth Argyle. The last meeting between these sides was back in 1989 in the old Division Two where City ran out 2-0 at Maine Road. While the Pilgrims find themselves at the same level, current form aside, City are now one of the best teams in the world, funded by the sportswashing project of Emirati royal, Sheikh Mansour. Plymouth will be the third non-Premier League side City have faced in each of this season’s FA Cup ties. Round three saw them brush aside League Two’s Salford City 8-0, then overcome a difficult Leyton Orient in a game where Stefan Ortega’s arse gave the League One side an early lead. Indeed, Stefan Ortega’s arse may be given another chance of glory this evening as Pep shuffles his side ahead of a difficult Premier League run where Champions League qualification is proving to be the only excitement left in the most boring competition on earth. Plymouth kicked off their FA Cup campaign with newly appointed head coach, Miron Muslic, watching from the stands. Their 1-0 victory over Premier League Brentford proved to be the catalyst for their survival push, with the Pilgrims picking up ten points from their next nine games. Over the same period prior to the Brentford win they’d collected just three. Muslic, a clearly intelligent and articulate coach, may well oversee their survival and has already guided them to a famous cup victory over Premier League champions elect, Liverpool. It may well be unlikely that his side can overcome the bookies’ favourite for the cup, but who thought they’d knock out Liverpool? This is why, despite the selfish motivations of English football’s elite, the FA Cup remains such a fine contest. Away win. JB

Sunday

FA Cup fifth round: Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion

13.45 on ITV1, STV and ITVX
It’s 70 years since Newcastle last won this competition, and Brighton have won only reached the final once. There’s certainly a feeling that we could see a new or unfamiliar name on the Cup this year with regular semi-finalists Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and Everton all out before the fifth round - something that’s never happened since they moved the final to Wembley over a century ago. City and United aside (and of course a third consecutive derby final is still a possibility) every other winner of the FA Cup since 1978 is out of this season’s competition. But with Champions League football next season a real possibility for both sides they might be forgiven for treating this fixture as one that would be nice to win rather than one they need to. Newcastle, of course, already have a date at Wembley with the EFL Cup final in two weeks time, but Eddie Howe has denied that he is protecting Alexander Isak until that game. The Swedish striker and the (dirty) Mags main source of goals was missing from their toothless league defeat at Liverpool in midweek, a zero-shots-on-goal performance that certainly won’t have given anything away before the final. Brighton’s recent history in the Cup suggest they’re more likely to progress, having reached semi-finals in 2019, in Chris Hughton’s last season in charge, and 2023 under Roberto De Zerbi - losing on penalties to Manchester United in that one. Newcastle meanwhile haven’t made it past the quarter finals since 2005, but for Toon fans looking for a good omen, they haven’t gone out at this stage since 1993. GS

FA Cup fifth round: Manchester United v Fulham

16.30 on BBC One & iPlayer
There must be some form of law of the universe that the worst United do in the league, the more likely they are to reach a cup final. Somehow the arbitrary recruitment, despairing managers and general chaos seems to translate into a decent cup run. Not that Big Jim’s Parsimony FC will relish another FA Cup Final. There’s bonuses to be paid, extra accommodation and travel, and a curious case of Contractextensionitis that seems to affect the boardroom at times like this. Just as well, then, that in Fulham they’re facing an opponent who specialises in handing out bloody noses and are an absolute pain for any side to play, in the best possible way. Marco Silva’s Cottagers really seem to relish these kind of encounters and with a team of seasoned pros, you suspect they’ll fancy their chances of not just coming away from Old Trafford but snaring a trip to Wembley. Both sides struggle to keep clean sheets so this could be a proper humdinger of a cup tie, albeit in the low quality ping pong fashion. If it’s a goal bonanza, Big Jim might even consider levying an “entertainment charge” on top of the match day ticket. He can have that one for free. Not that he’d offer to pay for it. GA

Serie A: Milan v Lazio

19.45 on TNT Sports 1 and OneFootball
Milan go into March having suffered a rotten second half to February that now sees them fighting to remain in the hunt for a European place next season. This week, the Rossoneri lost 2-1 twice on the road: at Torino last Sunday, and then at Bologna on Thursday. Those results followed their Champions League exit to Feyenoord, a result which, combined with the other Italian clubs going out in the same round, makes it very unlikely that the eighth position Milan currently occupy will be enough for them to qualify for Europe. Lazio are in equally indifferent form and this week lost their Coppa Italia quarter final to Inter. Last weekend a goalless draw at Venezia saw Marco Baroni’s side lose the top four place they’d held for most of the season to a resurgent Juventus, who have suddenly made themselves potential title contenders again. With Roma also in great form and looking to catch both of these sides after having been in the bottom half for most of the campaign, this is match in which both sides need a change of luck. GS


Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary