The dwindling magic of the FA Cup

Premier League clubs are falling, but it doesn't really feel that special.

Believe it or not, but a record 11 Premier League clubs could be out of the FA Cup by the time the fourth round comes around. That’s including Leeds, who have been taken to a replay against Cardiff, and Arsenal who visit Oxford on Monday night. Nine clubs will definitely be out, which is the most since the last time a non-top flight club reached the final (Cardiff in 2007/08), once we realise the fate of Liverpool versus Wolves.

Despite so many giants falling, you’d be forgiven for much of it passing you by. In the capitalist nature of modern football, the FA Cup and the enchanting magic of the early rounds has been diluted to just another weekend of football, barely a blip on the radar of the weekly bombardment of televised sport.

The prime time entertainment of this year’s third round was Manchester United against Everton on Friday, Liverpool versus Wolves on Saturday and the supremely Super Sunday clash of Chelsea and Manchester City on Sunday evening, so don’t worry if you had to catch yourself wondering why this big Premier League match-up was being headed by Gary Lineker, even though Micah Richards was present to fly the Sky flag.

Sure enough, even early-round renegade Jurgen Klopp played his strongest line-up against Wolves, lessening the degree of his side’s vulnerability heading into that one—although his experienced stars showed more than enough fragility in that one that a thrown-together mix of youngsters would surely have shown more in their rare chance to impress.

Granted, it’s not anyone’s fault how the draw rolls for the third round weekend or how any potential giant killings might be teed up, but it does take so much away from the fixtures when it’s mere Premier League re-runs, when the league itself has been non-stop since the World Cup came to a close.

The weekend’s biggest league pyramid margin and potential giant felling came in the tie between Aston Villa and League 2’s Stevenage, which naturally delivered in spades as two late goals saw lowly Stevenage go through. Alas, this game was resigned to red button duty behind the might of the Chelsea and City game, and much of the excitement missed once people had managed to navigate the red button menu once word of a giant killing was on the cards.

It’s probably only a matter time before the early rounds of the cup become a midweek affair, further blurring the lines of which domestic cup fixture is which or if I need to check my Fantasy Premier League line-up ahead of a sneakily looming deadline.

Credit should of course be given to Sheffield Wednesday, who overcame the Saudi riches of Newcastle to knock them out in these early rounds, as they build towards the inevitable quenching of their 1955 trophy drought. It was an old-style FA Cup fixture and got centre stage on television and was a true tonic to the humdrum of the top division.

Tonight, League 1’s Oxford host Arsenal and the winner gets a date with Manchester City in the fourth round, meaning two of the FA Cup big hitters will be out by the sixth round. If Oxford somehow overcome the odds, only ten top flight clubs will remain in the competition for now. It tees up what should be a very exciting run-in and allow a lot of clubs to dream of going all the way.

Maybe that’s when the magic of the cup will rear its head, if a lower tier side can somehow go all the way into the deep end of the tournament. But until then, for me, the third round’s sparkle continues to dwindle in the world of high octane, powerhouse Premier League action.