Football / FA Cup: Chance to settle old Cup scores

TWO of the ties for the FA Cup quarter-finals, which were drawn yesterday, will revive memories of recent Cup finals. Arsenal will travel away to Ipswich, who beat them 1-0 in the 1978 final, and Manchester City are at home to Tottenham Hotspur, their 1981 vanquishers (television viewers should prepare for a bombardment of replays of the Ricky Villa goal).

Spurs have already travelled to Maine Road twice this season, beating them 1-0 in the League and knocking them out of the Coca- Cola Cup by the same score. 'We've got results there in the past so we'll go there confident,' said Paul Allen, the Spurs midfield player who was part of yesterday's winning side against Wimbledon.

The eight survivors' progress was a repeat of rather older history: the weekend's last-16 round was the first since 1889-90 in which all eight ties produced home wins (when Bootle were one of the victors and Sheffield United lost 13-0 at Bolton Wanderers).

Sheffield Wednesday, drawn against Derby, the only non-Premier League survivors, have been installed as the bookmakers' favourites to win the Cup, followed by Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers.

----------------------------------------------------------------- FA CUP SIXTH-ROUND ----------------------------------------------------------------- Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur Ipswich Town v Arsenal Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield United (Ties to be played 6, 7, 8 March) -----------------------------------------------------------------