Brighton draw Blackpool in FA Cup Fourth Round
The draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup has been made with Brighton & Hove Albion set to take on Blackpool at the Amex.
On paper, a home draw against League One opponents appears an excellent outcome for the Seagulls. Then you remember that Brighton needed penalties to defeat League Two Newport County in round three and it is perhaps not as straightforward as it should be.
Blackpool are enjoying a decent season in the third tier under the management of Neil Critchley. They sit 13th in the table with eight wins, three draws and nine defeats from their 20 matches so far. The playoff places are six points away.
This will be the first ever FA Cup meeting between Brighton and Blackpool. There have been 30 previous matches between the sides and the head-to-head is dead even with 10 Albion wins, 10 Blackpool wins and 10 draws.
We last competed in the same division in the 2014-15 season. Blackpool finished rock-bottom of the Championship that year but in true Brighton style, the Albion failed to score a goal in 180 minutes as the Tangerines drew 0-0 at the Amex in September before winning 1-0 at Bloomfield Road in January.
If Brighton manage to overcome Blackpool, then the fifth round will throw up a trip to either Brentford or Leicester City. Should it be Brentford, it will be the Albion’s first trip to the Bees’ new stadium in west London which has been made out of a giant Lego set. It will be a game that takes on particular significance for Tony Bloom given his rivalry with Brentford chairman Matt Benham.
Brighton and Brentford’s previous FA Cup clash came in the 2014-15 season third round. Chris Hughton was in the Albion dugout for the first time, overseeing a rare win at Griffin Park with an even rarer Chris O’Grady goal. Lewis Dunk was the other man on target in a 2-0 Brighton win.
That was the Seagulls’ third FA Cup victory over Brentford from four attempts. There was a 2-0 win away from home in the 1987-88 season and a 1-0 success at the Goldstone Ground in 1974-75. The Bees’ solitary success saw them run out 4-1 winners at Griffin Park in 1928-29.
Having lost last season’s Championship playoff final to Fulham, Brentford are again in promotion contention in the current campaign, sitting in fourth spot.
They have shown they have the ability to compete with top flight opponents on a memorable run to the semi finals of the Carabao Cup which included the scalps of Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Newcastle United, marking them out as difficult opponents.
The prospect of facing Leicester would be even tougher for Brighton. The Foxes are one of the few teams that the Albion are yet to beat in the Premier League since winning promotion to the top flight in 2017, drawing two and losing five, including a 3-0 hammering at the King Power Stadium in early December.
Brighton and Leicester have met once before in the FA Cup. It was a memorable occasion for the Albion as they pulled off an almighty upset, winning 2-1 against their top flight hosts at Filbert Street in the 1930-31 season.
The fourth round tie with Blackpool will take place over the weekend of 23rd January. Should Brighton qualify for the fifth round, then they will go to either the Brentford Community Stadium or the King Power on the weekend of February 10th.
