Bristol Rovers v Southampton

Cardiff v Wolves

Sheff Utd v Middlesbrough*

Liverpool v Barnsley

Manchester United v Arsenal*

Preston v Portsmouth*

Coventry v West Brom

Chelsea v Huddersfield

(Ties to be played on February 16th and 17th)

With just 6 Premier League sides left in the 16 teams in the 5th round, it promises to be a very interesting cup.

The choice fixture of course is Manchester United hosting Arsenal at home. The FA Cup has thrown up some crackers between these two teams over the years, and none more so than the semi-final replay in 1999 - Beckham opened the scoring with a great long-range goal, Bergkamp equalised with a neat one himself, Roy Keane got sent off, Schmeichel saved Bergkamp's penalty, and then Ryan Giggs scored THAT wonder goal, and United went on to win the treble. Then in 2003, Arsenal sent a second-stringish side to Old Trafford and won 2-0, with goals from Edu and Wiltord, and Franny Jeffers putting in a memorable hard-working performance up-front. The next meeting was the semi-final in 2004, Arsenal were unbeaten and top of the league, and a few players were rested for this fixture. United ended up winning 2-0, some might say unjustly, after Arsenal had had the post twice and wasted several chances to take the lead early on in the game. And finally, in 2005, the teams met in the final of the FA Cup. Arsenal were negative and lucky (but decimated by injuries), and nervously saw out the 90 minutes goalless, before Jens Lehmann made an excellent save from Scholes' spot-kick to seal the penalty shootout and cup for Arsenal.

You can expect another very entertaining fixture, although both teams will be resting players because of the Champions League, and Man United are likely to have the better side out, since they have a larger, stronger squad.

The other matchup of interest is Sheff Utd vs Middlesborough. The Blades have an excellent cup record, and have engineered many upsets over the years. Even though Neil Warnock is gone, they still have a strong setup, and Bryan Robson keeps his troops spirited. Middlesborough had some difficulty seeing off lowly Mansfield Town in the previous round, and are ripe for an upset given their indifferent form over the season. The arrival of Afonso Alves might just give them a big boost though.

Chelsea won't have much trouble with Huddersfield, although Liverpool might with Barnsley, especially given the proximity of these fixtures to the Champions League ties. The Blues' young striker Scott Sinclair started out at Huddersfield, and may just get a long run-out in this fixture.

Portsmouth should be able to beat Preston, although it will be a very tricky fixture for them. Pompey benchwarmer Dave Nugent will be coming up against his former club, where he did so well and earned his first England cap. 

Cardiff and Wolves will be a tight all-Championship fixture, as will Coventry v West Brom (in addition to being a Midlands derby), and Southampton should dispatch Bristol Rovers without much trouble

There were a few upsets in this round of the cup, although 11 of the 20 Premiership sides had already been eliminated in the previous round.

Two Premierleague sides went out this time, although only one of them was really an upset.

Derby lost 1-4 away to Preston, and it's been a tradition over the years for teams at the foot of the Premier league table to lose clubs that are doing well in the Championship. This was one such case, and I think Paul Jewell will already be looking at how best to mount a challenge in the Championship next season.

The other upset, which was significantly more shocking, not just for the result, but the events of the match as well, was Sheffield United beating Man City 2-1 at Bramall Lane. City have an awful record there, having not won in 6 games, but no one could have expected to see what happen.

The incident, in case you haven't seen/heard about it yet, was caused by several balloons thrown onto the pitch by the travelling Man City fans. Joe Hart dealt with whatever crosses and shots came his way, but unfortunately failed to deal with the balloons, and they just lay around in the home penalty area. The eventual irony was of course majestic - a cross coming in from the left hit two sets of balloons in the area, the path of the ball went wonky, and it ballooned (haha) away to evade the foot of Michael Ball(oon), sitting up nicely for Luton Shelton to pop home. Jonathan Stead scored a neat second, and City were in trouble. Elano came close, hitting the post with a free-kick, but it was his second-half replacement, youngster Daniel Sturridge, who scored City's consolation with an excellent strike.

The unfortunate Man City squad had more misery heaped on them after it was found that the dressing room had been robbed, with money being stolen from the players and staff. 

Arsenal and Emmanuel Adebayor recovered from the Spurs' debacle, beating Newcastle 3-0. Keegan's men started quite promisingly, but were outplayed by the end of the encounter with two top quality goals from Adebayor, and and own goal from Nicky Butt.

Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile continued his amazing form, scoring a brace to give Man United a 3-1 win over Tottenham, and giving him 25 goals for the season. Robbie Keane had scored first for Spurs, but Carlos Tevez equalised, before Ronaldo scored a penalty and then the winner.

Chelsea had a few hiccups against a decent Wigan side, but easily prevailed as 2-1 winners, with Nicolas Anelka scoring his first for Chelsea. Shaun Wright-Phillips scored their second, and Atoine Sibierski scored a consolation. 

In other news (apologies for not going into detail, but I can't be bothered), Cardiff just edged out Hereford in a 2-1 win, Wolves absolutely hammered Championship title challengers Watford 4-1 away, and in Saturday's "fairytale" fixture of non-league Havant & Waterlooville vs Liverpool at Anfield, the Hawks actually took the lead twice before being put down 5-1.

The full list of Round 4 results is listed below. The amazing thing about this round is that all the matches were conclusive (wins), meaning no 4th round replays for the first time in 57 years.

Southend 0-1 Barnsley
Mansfield 0-2 Middlesborough
Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Barnet 0-1 Bristol Rovers
Coventry 2-1 Millwall
Derby 1-4 Preston
Liverpool 5-2 Havant & Waterlooville
Oldham 0-1 Huddersfield
Peterborough 0-3 West Brom
Portsmouth 2-1 Plymouth
Southampton 2-0 Bury
Watford 1-4 Wolves
Wigan 1-2 Chelsea
Hereford 1-2 Cardiff
Man Utd 3-1 Tottenham
Sheff Utd 2-1 Man City

Just a quick wrapup of the two exciting games from yesterday.

Nigeria vs Cote d'Ivoire was obviously the neutral's choice fixture of the group stages (and possibly the whole tournament), and even though there was just a single goal, it was a very entertaining game. The goal itself was a wonder goal by Salomon Kalou, beating 4 Nigerian defenders before drilling the ball past Ejide in goal. Taye Taiwo came very close early on with a thumping long-range free-kick that ricocheted off the bar. Yaya Toure was outstanding for the Elephants, and it's amazing how much he's improved since the World Cup in 2006, becoming a regular for Barcelona along the way. Nigeria have 8 strikers in the squad, and started with 4 (Kanu, Martins, Yakubu and Utaka), but as ever they are prone to disorganisation. Previously they had Jay-Jay Okocha as the playmaker that brought them together, but at the moment Seyi Olofinjana is not good enough, and John Obi Mikel is still too much of a holding player.

The Elephants had Drogba battling away up front all game, but it was Kalou who really added the spark up front. Meite and Gohouri were shaky at the back, especially against Martins' pace, but Kolo Toure was immense as always, and Arthur Boka was quite nifty. There were great individual skills on show, lots of power, lots of pace, and more than a few good chances, but profligacy and lack of composure meant that the goals count was minimal.

As for Benin vs Mali? Well Benin were highly unfancied, and they lost as expected, although they did give Mali a very tough game. Fredi Kanoute was quite disappointing for the Malians, as was Mahamadou Diarra (although he was solid), but when Mamady Sidibe was fouled in the box, it was Kanoute who calmly and efficiently despatched the penalty.

Benin really upped the tempo when they went a goal down, and were it not for a combination of some last-ditch interceptions and wasteful passing in the final third, they could easily have had 4 or 5 clear chances on goal. Stephane Sessignon was a classy presence for Benin, but it was Razak Omotoyossi who really stood out as the most exciting Beninese player in the second half, taking the game almost single-handedly to the Malians. It was a tight game overall, and Benin had set out with a 4-5-1, seeking to capitalise on any mistakes. Unfortunately the penalty threw their plans into disarray, but they really made a go of it, and that will give them confidence to perhaps be more attacking for the rest of their matches. 

A late stunner from Sulley Muntari gave hosts (and some might say favourites) Ghana a 2-1 win over Guinea in opening game of the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Accra.

The opener for the 26th edition of this tournament was watched by John Kuffour, the Ghanaian president, and a stone-faced Sepp Blatter, the "king" of FIFA (and football - he would like to think). The pitch was absolutely dire for this game - despite being nice and green, the grass was almost an inch too long, and the ball just would not run properly a lot of the time. Blatter keeps talking about all the things he's done to improve world football, well perhaps he should send down some pitch technicians to Accra.

Anyhow, back to the football.

Although it was a match that Ghana dominated, they had more half-chances than clear cut ones, and the finishing was quite dire at times, although they did hit the woodwork thrice.

Ghana had the first clear cut chance through Asamoah Gyan, who screwed a shot wide after being put through by Muntari. Gyan would be wasteful again when the Guinean 'keeper Kemoko kicked the ball straight at him, only to mishit his shot. Kemoko was shaky all game, and really the Guinea squad were well below Ghana's standard.

However their star player, winger Pascal Feindouno managed to create the first chance, finding defender Kalabane with a free-kick, but the big man put his header high and wide.

One of the curiosities with this Ghana squad is the presence of Junior Agogo, who is essentially a crap and English League One striker - basically built like a boxer, without much skill. Not quite sure why Ghana would need a player like him when they have a nation of such talented footballers, but in any case, he came closest to giving them the lead, heading a Quincy cross against the right post, and then watching the ball rebound across the line and roll out to safety at the opposite post. Frustrating stuff, and it continued, with Michael Essien hitting the upright with a header from Laryea Kingston's corner.

Gyan then finally scored with about 10 minutes left in the half, but the goal was ruled out (rightly) for a foul. Muntari then hit the post with a typical thumping left-footed drive from a narrow angle by the left touchline, and then Agogo fluffed an easy-chance in the six-yard area.

However, he made amends 10 minutes into the second half, winning a penalty when put through on goal. It looked like a bit of a dive to me to be honest, but the defender hadn't helped with his clumsiness. Gyan duly thumped the penalty home to send the Ghanaian fans into celebration.

Guinea however managed to snatch an equaliser 9 minutes later. Once again it was Feindouno with the free-kick, and once again it was Kalabane with the header, but this time the defender made no mistakes. 1-1.

The game sort of went into disarray because of that. Ghana had dominated, and thought they were well on the way to victory until Guinea equalised, and it completely disrupted their flow. Guinea in turn had looked to be out of the game, and they seemed quite anxious to try and not let things get out of hand. Passing moves broke down, errors seeped in, and both teams tried silly long range efforts.

However Gyan made a great chance in the 78th minute, taking on the fullback down the right-flank, and delivering a low cross across the box that was met by teenager and alleged Arsenal target, Andrew Ayew. With the goal at his mercy though, the son of (Abedi) Pele managed to somehow contort his body and send the ball exactly the wrong way, missing an easy-tap in and instead screwing an angled shot back across goal and straight at the 'keeper. It was a great chance to win the game, but it was a big moment for a probably nervous 18 year old, and the awful grass wouldn't have helped much with his being able to judge the cross.

In the end though Muntari seemed almost effortless in his deciding of the match. He was about 25 yards out, on the left-side of the penalty box, and he just unleashed a shot that flew high and true into the far opposite corner of the net. No chance for the 'keeper, or for the defence, and a good win for Ghana.

That's the first match done in what should be a very exciting tournament then.

You can keep following it on OleOle at our ACN2008 site, and also at our blogger Teo's blog - he is going to be reporting LIVE on location from Ghana.

First half highlights:

Second-half highlights:

Ghanaian youngster Andrew Ayew is in Ghana for the Nations Cup, and will be looking to make a big impact.

The French-born left-winger/striker is said to be wildly talented, and is the son of Ghanaian, African and Marseille legend Abedi Pele. The youngster also plays for Marseille, and he has received rave reviews for some of his performances this season (although he hasn't made too many).

He is definitely one to watch in this tournament, and it's rumoured that Arsenal are close to tying up a £5 million deal for him.

Who do you think will be the best new talent of this tournament? Leave your opinions in the comments! 

Taking a look at the various squads, it seems that Côte d'Ivoire have the strongest squad in the tournament. Their stars include:

Kolo Toure (Arsenal)
Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)
Yaya Toure (Barcelona)
Didier Zokora (Tottenham)
Arouna Koné (Sevilla)

Those are some exceptionally talented players, from some exceptionally big teams, and the attacking talent in that group is world class, and the defenders pretty strong too.

There are a lot of other teams with a few good players, but not with that many big names in the same side.

Nigeria run a close second with Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obafemi Martins, Stephen Makinwa, John Utaka, John Obi Mikel, and Taye Taiwo, but their defence is very suspect. 

Cameroon have a squad with great overall strength, although they lack players in midfield to pull the strings, and their talisman Samuel Eto'o is still not yet fit after his long layoff from injury.

Despite all of these comparisons though, the competition is still going to be fierce. African teams at the World Cup is one story, African teams playing other African teams is another. Upsets take place galore, and the style of football, while perhaps being tactically/defensively suspect, provides a whole-hearted commitment to attacking and flamboyance that shoud make for some fantastic viewing.

Rumours had been brewing over the last few months that Chelsea were interested in signing France forward Nicolas Anelka from Bolton. These were logical of course, because Anelka has been excellent this season, and has buckled down and worked on his game and temperament in the last few years. Chelsea were not the only interested party, and both Arsenal and Manchester United were rumoured to be interested, along with several continental clubs. The fees mentioned were anywhere between £8 and 12 million, and you can't say that Anelka isn't worth that.

Today however, official confirmation was received that Bolton rejected a bid from Chelsea. The amount of the bid is unclear but it is believed to be around £11 million, and it looks like Chelsea will have to shell out a lot of money, despite their slightly hilarious protestations of late that they are "not a spending club" and looking to "tighten the strings" and so on.

Apart from the fact that Chelsea have unlimited finances, and pay virtually 40-60% extra for all of their transfers because other clubs don't want to let them off lightly, there are several others reasons why Anelka will cost them a lot more:

1. Bolton are in quite a strong position. Anelka signed a 4 year deal at the start of the season. If he goes now, they can use the money to bring someone in, if he stays, then his class will be invaluable to them, and he can still be sold in the summer when Bolton can start a bidding war. Anelka has for a change not thrown his toys out of the pram and said that although he'd like to be playing Champions League football, he'd be happy to stay at Bolton as well.

2. Along with Dimitar Berbatov, Anelka is the best striker in the Premier League that isn't cup-tied for Europe. There are other strikers available in Europe (a few), but because of the way the Premiership is, it takes time for players coming from abroad to adapt, and with only 5 months left of the season, January signings generally need to come from within the league to have an impact. Anelka and Berbatov are not just two of the best in England, they are probably two of the best in Europe, and with Spurs reportedly wanting £35 million for Berbatov, Anelka is definitely the better option.

3. The African Nations Cup will deprive Chelsea of their two best attackers Drogba and Kalour. Pizzarro hasn't been much good, and Shevchenko's overall floppery is quite well known. They will be in serious need of attacking threat for a month or so, and so a striker buy is crucial.

4. Nevermind going missing for the ANC, but Drogba has once again come out and said that he wants to leave Chelsea, so they are also in the market for a top striker for next season, and Drogba's comments might seem him drop out of favour by the end of this one. The Ivorian had this to say - "The problem is that I say that I want to leave since two or three years. Mourinho's departure didn't help, to the contrary it made my desire to leave even bigger". Chelsea's main striker wants out, they're short of two for the next month and a half, their other strikers are poo, and they need someone who's good, not cup-tied, and able to spearhead them for at least a few years.

Bolton really hold all the cards on this one, although a lot depends on Anelka maintaining his good temperament and decent behaviour. If he decides to throw a strop and hands in a transfer request or something, then Chelsea will be able to bring the price down. But Anelka knows that he can get his move at the end of the season as well, so there shouldn't be any massive urgency. Peter Kenyon is also quite a poor negotiator, so Bolton should be able to get at least about £16-18 million for Anelka, if not more.

You might have noticed some players doing a silly celebration of late, making a sort of Village-People-ey "M" over their heads, but with their index fingers crossing. It's not just one player, there have been several, but due to the idiotic cows that some footballers tend to be, no one has really taken notice.

After all it's standard practise for some footballer to make up some weird celebration and then for the others to start copying it, they aren't the most inventive bunch in the world.

Well, I came across this article today from the Evening Standard, and it turns out that this new-fangled attempt to be cool by footballers is actually something a bit better than that.

What they are in fact attempting to do, is form an "A" over their heads, in support of a program called the "A Star Scheme" which aims to get young people off the street and help them to "be inspired by role models who do not glamourise crime, guns or drugs". Let's hope Rio Ferdinand doesn't lend his support then.

The A-Star website has full details about the projet, whose motto is "if you dream it, you can achieve it". It's co-founded by Wigan centre-half (One Size) Fitz Hall, who says that "This is a great chance for professional footballers to truly give something back". Other footballers involved in the project are Andy Johnson, Marcus Bent, Micah Richards and Emile Heskey

OK then. I leave with you Andrew Johnson looking silly.