Sunderland look one of the bets of the weekend in the FA Cup
Published:Ten Premier League teams reached the fifth round of the FA Cup last season and 9/4 looks the best price that half the top-flight will contest this stage again in the current campaign.
Despite 16 Premier League teams having successfully negotiated their passage through the third round, only a maximum of ten can make it beyond round four given the nature of the draw.
Six matches in the fourth round are all-Premier League encounters, meaning that somewhere between six and ten clubs will compete in round five.
Tottenham, Stoke, Newcastle and Sunderland are the four clubs getting arguably the better draws against lower-league opposition and all four can be expected to qualify, even if needing a replay to do so.
Sunderland should have the easiest task at home in a Tees-Wear derby with Middlesbrough, as the visitors have a host of injury problems stacking up and have lost their last three Championship games.
With Martin O’Neill also enjoying a fine spell at Sunderland, the 8/11 in the FA Cup odds for the home win looks one of the bets of the weekend.
The other three are all on the road, with Tottenham taking a short trip to London rivals Watford in the hope of extending their run of just one defeat in 27 matches to lower-league opponents in the FA Cup.
Stoke also have a strong record against clubs from a lower division and so should qualify against Derby, with Newcastle looking the most in trouble at Brighton.
Newcastle have not won any of their last eight FA Cup away matches and have not made it past the fourth round since 2006.
However, they can be expected to scrape through, even if in a replay when Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse will have returned from African Nations Cup duty.
It is 1/1 that one Premier League team falters and only nine reach the fifth round.
