Weekend Boxset: Something for the weekend

By Graham Sibley February 13, 2026

Weekend Boxset: Something for the weekend

Romance is in the air — the romance of the FA Cup, that is. Will our games be casanovas or cold fish?

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

FA Cup fourth round: Hull City v Chelsea

19.45 on BBC One & iPlayer, TNT Sports 1 and Discovery Plus
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has a long history with Hull City both as a player and as manager. Rosenior, played more for Hull than any of his other clubs and was part of the side that took Arsenal the distance in the 2014 FA Cup final. Substituted in the first half of extra time, Arsenal’s winner came just six minutes later from an attack down the flank he had been defending. As a manager, Rosenior’s only full season in charge saw them fall just three points short of the play-offs, but that wasn’t good enough for club owner Acun Ilicali, who fired him for being too cautious. That was in May 2024 and Hull are on their third head coach since then but current manager Sergej Jakirovic is getting a tune out of the side, comfortably sitting fourth in the Championship. Hull’s shootout win over Blackburn in the third round was the first time they progressed past that stage since 2020. That season they were knocked out in the fourth round at home to Chelsea. The form book says this should go the same way but it may simply come down to how Rosenior approaches the game. GS

Saturday

A-League: Sydney v Adelaide United

08.35 on TNT Sports 1
“Come and spend Valentine’s Day with Patrick Wood”, toots Sydney FC’s pre-match publicity. The prospect of spending an evening watching a willing-but-limited reserve striker bustling around the pitch for 20 minutes and getting a yellow card is probably a less compelling proposition than watching Apostolos Stamatelopolous and Ahmet Arslan, Sydney’s two recently signed forwards that the Sky Blues desperately need. Ufuk Talay’s team have struggled for goals in the absence of Joe Lolley and Al-Hasan Toure and Spanish import Victor Campuzano looking badly out of form so they’ll be hoping the additions up front with gel immediately. Meanwhile Adelaide will be missing talisman Craig Goodwin as they look to turn around poor away form that’s arguably costing them a tilt at the title. Sydney stunk out Cooper Stadium when they played the Reds at the start of the season but this should be a different prospect. GA

FA Cup fourth round: Burton Albion v West Ham United

12.15 on TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate and Discovery Plus
A quick glance at the fixture list may lead to the conclusion that a match between a club in the League One relegation zone and a club in the Premier League relegation zone is missable. That conclusion would be wrong. This is one of those fixtures that Nuno Espírito Santo could really do without. He’s just started getting a tune out of a West Ham side that looked all but doomed earlier in this season and now look like a side that is more likely than not to stay up. Nearly seeing off a resurgent Manchester United side midweek was proof that East London isn’t going down without a fight. So how does Nuno approach this match? His priority will be, rightly, prioritising Premier League survival. So does he put out a strong side and risk injures and fatigue to key players, or does he put out a second string and risk “doing a Palace”, whose form has cratered since being knocked out by Macclesfield, and disrupt the momentum that’s been building? There’s no easy answer and Nuno would have probably preferred a Premier League club where a loss in the cup could be shrugged off if he fielded a weakened side. For a Burton side in wretched form, this weekend presents something of a free hit. Gary Bowyer’s side have nothing to lose and that makes them dangerous, lowly league position notwithstanding. This competition is littered with upsets by lower league sides who buck the form guide for one match. This could, of course, be one of those matches that’s over in the first 20 minutes. But if Burton can frustrate the Hammers in the early stages, we’re in for an intriguing tie. GA

FA Cup fourth round: Aston Villa v Newcastle United

17.45 on BBC One & iPlayer, TNT Sports 3 and Discovery Plus
Two sides with rich FA Cup traditions. They can count 13 wins between them and have faced each other in two finals, though neither have lifted the famous trophy since the 1950s. It’s only a few weeks since these two sides faced off in the league, with Villa running out 2-0 winners at St James’ Park with goals from Emiliano Buendía and Ollie Watkins. While Villa’s form has been patchy since the turn of the year, it’s still well ahead of tonight’s visitors. A good win in the last round at Tottenham put even more pressure on Thomas Frank (who was finally put out his misery in midweek following a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Newcastle). The (dirty) Mags are enduring an indifferent season domestically, sitting in, by their recent standards, an anonymous tenth. They failed to retain the League Cup but have qualified for the Champions League play-offs. It’s hard to ignore the growing discontent among the Geordie hordes; the last home game saw them lose 3-2 to Brentford having been in the lead for most of the first half. That discontent has spilled over into the most serious calls for a change in the dugout since Howe took over in 2021. It feels like he has to deliver silverware again this season or find himself yet another casualty of the House of Saud. JB

Bonus viewing: If TNT Sports weren’t showing enough sport from Milan right now they also have coverage of the Derby d’Italia from 19.45. Inter v Juventus sees the home side pulling away at the top of the Serie A table while the visitors look to consolidate a Champions League place.

Sunday

FA Cup fourth round: Birmingham City v Leeds United

12.00 on TNT Sports 3 and Discovery Plus
It’s a been a while since either of these sides had an extended run in the Cup: Birmingham City’s last quarter final in this competition was in 2011 while Leeds have not seen that stage for 23 years. Both sides are enjoying the sort of good run you don’t want to spoil by going out cheaply in the Cup. Birmingham have lost just once since Christmas and in the league are in a crowd of clubs on the very edge of the play-offs. Leeds’ good run now sees them well-placed to see out the season in the Premier League’s mid-table. Both sides had comfortable(ish) wins in the third round scoring three away to lower division opposition. Leeds went behind against Derby but came back with three second half goals, while Birmingham cruised to a 3-0 lead at Cambridge only to see the lead diminish to one goal in the closing stages. Daniel Farke ended a 28 year wait for a Cup run when he was in charge of Norwich. That run was ended late in extra time against Manchester United in the much delayed restart to the competition in 2020 — maybe he’s due an uninterrupted run to the later stages this time. GS

FA Cup fourth round: Stoke City v Fulham

14.00 on TNT Sports 6 and Discovery Plus
As Stoke’s Championship season plateaus, they can look to the Cup to inject some excitement. Hopefully, the prospect of a fourth-round tie at home to Premier League will fill the stadium and awaken the old Stoke that spent ten straight seasons in the topflight. Since their relegation in 2018, the club has struggled to build a squad that can challenge for promotion from the Championship. Under coach Mark Robins they started the season OK but have gone off the boil and have not won a match since the last round of the cup where they knocked out Robin’s former club Coventry City. Robins is of course a Cup winner with Manchester United in 1990. He was also seconds away from the final with Coventry two seasons ago and Stoke fans will be hopeful that he can bring a sprinkle of magic to their corner of the Potteries. Fulham could also do with a cup run to supplement what is another season of mid table football. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals last season by Palace with a pretty underwhelming performance. And the Cottagers current form is also poor, having lost their last three games. If the home side can get at the visitors and galvanise the crowd then an upset is on the cards. TD

Scottish Premiership: Hearts v Rangers

16.30 on Sky Sports Football, Main Event & Ultra
Following a dramatic round of midweek games the title race continues to excite. Hearts’ lead at the top is five points over Rangers in second but if it wasn’t for some last-minute drama on Tuesday and Wednesday, the gap would have been closer. Rangers looked to have three points in the bag at Motherwell on Wednesday night. Nicholas Rashkin took an early lead for the away side and Motherwell’s Lukas Fadinger was sent off in the 88th minute. But just as the clock hit 90 minutes, Stephen Welsh nabbed an equaliser. The on-loan Celtic player’s celebration was as exuberant as you’d expect. What was less expected (for someone who doesn’t watch much Scottish football) was how tentative Rangers were when trying to close out the game. Manager Danny Rohl, who has done well at Ibrox since taking over from the truly hapless Russell Martin, was furious at the final whistle. Hearts played 24 hours earlier against their City rivals Hibs and had to wait 88 minutes for Tomas Magnusson scored the only goal of the game which sent Tynecastle into rapture. It was a far from a convincing performance but at this stage of the season it’s all about attrition and Derek McGuiness’ players showed a lot of character to bounce back after the defeat to St Mirren last weekend. Hearts’ rise is well timed as it comes in a moment when the Old Firm are going through difficult transitions, to put it kindly. If they can go to Ibrox and get something it could set up a climax of a season for the ages. TD

Whatever you watch, have a great weekend.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary