Sutton’s FA Cup fifth-round predictions v comedian Josh Widdicombe

Plymouth have already shocked Brentford and Liverpool in the FA Cup this season, but can they upset another Premier League team, Manchester City, in round five?

“Argyle have gone really direct under new manager Miron Muslic,” said BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton.

“It’s a great clash of styles with the possession football that Pep Guardiola plays, but the problem if you keep going long against City is that you keep giving them the ball back.”

Sutton has made his predictions for all eight fifth-round ties and for this weekend’s matches he is up against comedian and Plymouth fan Josh Widdicombe.

Widdicombe is touring the UK with his ‘Not My Cup Of Tea’ stand-up show in 2025 and 2026, which culminates with two nights at the Hackney Empire in London.

Do you agree with their scores? You can choose who you think will win each tie, below.

Josh missed Plymouth’s famous win over Liverpool in round four because he was at a Strictly Come Dancing Live Show with his daughter, so will be he be at Etihad Stadium this weekend?

“No, I will be in Chipping Norton, doing a preview show for my tour,” he told BBC Sport.

“My on-stage time will be 7.30pm which would be when injury time starts. That’s life!

“I was actually disappointed we got City because when you get into the fifth round of the FA Cup, you start thinking that, if we get an easy draw, we are in the quarter-finals.

“So, City were the worst possible draw, really. The fact the FA Cup is the only thing they can win doesn’t help much either. If they were playing in the Champions League next week we would be in a slightly better position.

“Still, the longer we go without conceding, the more I will dare to dream. I would obviously take penalties now, in a heartbeat, even though I would be on stage.

“Although, by the time penalties happen, after all the injury time and extra time, it might be around 8.15pm, which is when my break usually is.

“That’s what I am going to be wishing for, because I might just get to see a shootout – but honestly let’s just hope the tie is still up for grabs when I go on stage.”

Josh co-hosted the cult podcast about 1990s football ‘Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?’ between 2017 and 2024 and feels that decade was full of classic FA Cup moments.

“There were lots of iconic finals in the 1990s,” he added. “I can instantly tell you the result and every goalscorer of every one, while I am struggling to tell you who won it last year.

“That’s because of a combination of two things – firstly, in the same way you remember what was Christmas number one when you were a kid, everything is more vivid the first time around – it is more exciting and seems to matter more.

“Also, sadly, the FA Cup is not nearly as important as it was. You’ve even got some Plymouth fans saying they would rather stay up than win it this season – my response to that is ‘are you clinically insane? Who cares if we stay up!’.

“In a few years you are not going to say ‘oh thank God we are in the Championship. You are going to go ‘can you remember when we won the FA Cup!?!’ That’s what you dream about.

“Those one-off events are the things you cling on to, and in a strange way I am glad that because I wasn’t able to go to our win over Liverpool, I was at Strictly Live with my daughter instead.

“That makes it more of a memory for me. I will always remember where I was when it happened, and it wasn’t just the case where I was at home watching on TV and then I had to go to the park.”

Chris Sutton and Josh Widdicombe were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

There are no replays. Games will be decided by extra time and penalties.

Gap = league places between the two teams

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The rest of the season is going to be a bit of a juggling act for Aston Villa.

They are still in the Champions League and also trying to finish high enough in the Premier League to qualify for it again next season.

So, it will be interesting to see if they target the FA Cup too. I’m sure Unai Emery would ideally like to keep his finger in every pie, but we’ve seen how that has stretched his squad already.

Still, this is where you want to be as a Villa fan, with your team fighting on all fronts near the end of the season – and they will be favourites for this tie even if Emery rests players.

Let’s face it, Cardiff are pretty hopeless, especially on the road where they have only won one Championship game all season.

Cardiff have won away twice in the FA Cup, against Sheffield United and Stoke City, but it was basically the Blades reserves who they beat in round three.

They may rest players too – it depends whether they prioritise this tie or their relegation fight and Tuesday’s league game at home to Burnley – but, even if they don’t make changes, Villa will probably be too strong for them, especially at home.

Sutton’s prediction: 3-1

Josh’s prediction: Villa are still in the Champions League but they still seem to me to be a team for the FA Cup this year, because they are not going to win anything else, realistically.

So, there is quite a lot in this for them while, in contrast, if any of the Championship teams are going to be focused on the league it is Cardiff. 3-0

Josh’s favourite FA Cup moment: It would probably be Wrexham beating Arsenal in 1992 with Mickey Thomas’s free-kick for their equaliser. I don’t like Wrexham now because they are the big dogs of the lower leagues but that was the iconic upset of my childhood.

It was probably the first big one that I saw for myself. When I was a kid, all the same FA Cup upsets used to get talked about all the time – like Hereford against Newcastle – but this was the first proper one I remember, after Arsenal had won the league and Wrexham had finished bottom.

Selhurst Park, 12:15 GMT

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Will in-form Crystal Palace go for it in the FA Cup? I really hope so.

Oliver Glasner’s side have improved as the season has gone on and they are comfortably in mid-table of the Premier League without any danger of going down. A cup run would really cap this as a successful campaign for him.

It would have an even bigger impact for Palace’s fans. I still remember Ian Wright’s goals in the 1990 final where they lost to Manchester United in a replay. They lost to United in the 2016 final too, and it would be great to give them a new memory.

This won’t be easy, because former Norwich boss Alex Neil took charge of Millwall at the end of last year and is doing a good job.

They have been quite stubborn in recent weeks and I’m expecting more of the same here, but the Eagles should edge it in normal time.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Josh’s prediction: We beat Millwall 5-1 off the back of of our win over Liverpool, which was a bit of a freak result. Normally you’d lose straight after that kind of game.

Like Villa, Palace are another team who should be going for the FA Cup but Millwall have reached the final in my lifetime, even if it was fully 21 years ago.

I’d gone for a replay at first, before I remembered there aren’t any – the death of FA Cup replays is very sad, isn’t it? 1-1 after extra time, then Millwall to win on penalties

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This will be 0-0 after 90 minutes, 0-0 after extra time and 0-0 after the first five penalties by each team in the shootout.

It ended 0-0 when they played each other in the league a couple of weeks ago and I’d be shocked if we see anything different this time, bearing in mind how both teams are set up.

Maybe they should just play a kind of ‘golden goal’ from the start on Saturday where the first team to score, wins?

Burnley have kept 12 consecutive clean sheets in the Championship and their defensive record is incredible but I suppose it might open things up a bit if their manager Scott Parker has one eye on automatic promotion and makes changes before they go to Cardiff on Tuesday.

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom probably has more scope to go for it, but his side are not exactly prolific so there are not going to be many goals here.

Let’s be honest, this is unlikely to be a thriller.

Sutton’s prediction: 0-0 after extra time, Burnley to win 1-0 on penalties

Josh’s prediction: Preston are perennially fine in the Championship – I can’t remember the last time they changed division and they must be quite a boring club to support.

Burnley in contrast are one of the six teams that are forever going to switch between the Premier League and the Championship. They are trying to win promotion this time by not conceding any goals whatsoever, which is different, but still not very exciting for their fans.

This is a local derby, but it is such a dry game. I’ll go 1-0 to Burnley – no, 1-0 to Preston. 1-0

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Wolves won here in the Premier League on Saturday but only after Bournemouth had Illia Zabarnyi sent off in the first half. That completely skewed that result so I am not using it as a form guide for this tie.

What will be more relevant is how many changes both teams make for this game.

I was at Wolves’ win over Blackburn in round four and their manager Vitor Pereira went kind of half-strong there. I can guarantee you he will be prioritising Premier League survival ahead of FA Cup progress, so we will probably see another mix-and-match selection from him here too.

As for Bournemouth, well I have already talked about why Crystal Palace should be trying to win the FA Cup this season, and the same definitely applies to Andoni Iraola’s side.

The Cherries have only reached the quarter-finals twice before, losing at that stage in 1957 and 2021, and their best moments in the competition are probably as a lower-league giantkiller, such as when they beat Manchester United as a third-tier team in 1984.

This year they are genuine contenders to win it and lift the club’s first major trophy, and they have already shown they can beat anyone, especially at home.

They are still seventh in the Premier League despite losing their past two matches, and I would be really disappointed – no, actually I’d be angry – if Iraola picks a weakened team in the situation they are in.

He has got a responsibility to the fans to try to reach the semi-finals for the first time. Yes they have got a chance of making the Champions League, which would be incredible, but they are only two wins away from their biggest day out ever at Wembley. Why not go for it?

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Josh’s prediction: Usually, the result never recurs when teams play each other twice in a short space of time, so I am backing Bournemouth. 2-0

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The FA Cup is Manchester City’s only realistic chance of a trophy this season, so there is no chance they will lack focus here.

City come into this tie off the back of a good win at Tottenham on Wednesday, which I predicted. The readers went for a Spurs victory, which was just ridiculous – what on earth were you thinking?

I am going for Pep Guardiola’s side to win this comfortably, but fair play to Plymouth for getting this far.

They have knocked out Liverpool and won at Brentford but it is going to be third time unlucky for them against Premier League teams.

With what is at stake for them, City cannot let this one slip – and they won’t.

Sutton’s prediction: 5-0

Josh’s prediction: I think it is absurd when fans predict victories for their own team. They do it all the time, while I just go into every game thinking we are going to lose – that is my attitude to life, that surely this is going to go wrong.

So, I think we are going to lose every game 4-0, which actually feels like a worthwhile prediction here. Then you are always pleasantly…