2025–26 FA Cup Fifth Round Draw: Wrexham Land Premier League Giants, Arsenal Out to Avoid Upset

League One Mansfield Town were the story of the fourth round.

Crystal Palace are no longer in the hat to defend their title. | Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images

Arsenal travel to League One side Mansfield Town while Wrexham host Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round.

This is where the competition really starts to heat up. Clubs are only two wins away from a trip to Wembley and the pack of contenders is rapidly thinning out.

While the likes of Manchester United and defending champions Crystal Palace are forced to watch on from the outside, Nigel Clough’s third-tier upstarts Mansfield are set for an intriguing clash with the Premier League leaders. Having come from behind away from home to beat top-flight opposition (technically) in the form of Burnley in the fourth round, the Stags have plenty of reason for optimism when they host Arsenal at Field Mill.

Despite their illustrious domestic history, this is only the third time in the past 11 seasons that Liverpool have made it as far as the FA Cup fifth round. According to Mohamed Salah, their aspirations in the competition lie squarely on the broad shoulders of Dominik Szoboszlai, yet if the Hungarian dynamo maintains his blistering momentum, Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers will be wary of coming up against them next month.

Manchester City were not quite so rampant against Salford City but will be confident of finding a way past Newcastle United after defeating the Magpies in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Chelsea came through their trip to Hull City largely unscathed—aside from Liam Delap’s reputation—and travel to Championship promotion hopefuls Wrexham in arguably the tie of the round.

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2025–26 FA Cup Fifth Round Draw in Full

• Fulham vs. Southampton
• Port Vale or Bristol City vs. Sunderland
• Newcastle United vs. Manchester City
• Leeds United vs. Norwich City
• Mansfield Town vs. Arsenal
• Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Liverpool
• Wrexham vs. Chelsea
• West Ham United vs. Macclesfield Town or Brentford

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Ball Numbers for FA Cup Fifth Round Draw

The picking of the balls is always an intriguing occasion. | Alex Pantling/Getty Images

1. Liverpool
2. Fulham
3. Sunderland
4. Southampton
5. Wrexham
6. Arsenal
7. Chelsea
8. West Ham United
9. Mansfield Town
10. Norwich City
11. Port Vale or Bristol City
12. Wolverhampton Wanderers
13. Newcastle United
14. Manchester City
15. Macclesfield or Brentford
16. Leeds United

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2025–26 FA Cup Round Dates

The fifth round will get underway on the first weekend of March, a matter of days before the first leg of Champions League round of 16 ties get underway.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City will face the task of balancing domestic and European ambitions, while Newcastle United could also share that burden if they could through their two-legged knockout playoff with Qarabağ.

Round	Weekend of (Saturday)
First Round Proper	Nov. 1, 2025
Second Round Proper	Dec. 6, 2025
Third Round Proper	Jan. 10, 2026
Fourth Round Proper	Feb. 14, 2026
Fifth Round Proper	March 7, 2026
Quarterfinals	April 4, 2026
Semifinals	April 25, 2026
Final	May 16, 2026

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