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The Favourites for the 2025–26 FA Cup—Ranked
Winning the FA Cup was once the epitome of English football.
As one of the few competitions broadcast in the country, this mythical tournament of upsets and mismatches imprinted itself on the mind of football fans all over. The advent of the Premier League began to tip the scales before Manchester United’s decision to skip the tournament entirely in 2000–01 in favour of FIFA’s Club World Cup showed where modern priorities lie.
What Manchester United would give to be involved in this year’s competition (or any other tournament for that matter).
As this year’s edition reaches its sharpened point, the journey to Wembley Stadium races ever closer into view. Suddenly, these cup ties are no longer a chore, but a chance at glory. Here are the sides most likely to claim a trophy that few would turn down.
Ranking Criteria
- Team quality—A no-brainer.
- Squad depth—Such is the standing of the FA Cup in the priority of competitions, teams at all levels rotate to some degree.
- Priorities—A club without other distractions is surely more likely to progress.
- Upcoming opponent—Given there is no pre-determined route to the final, the immediate opposition is all we can go off.
17. Port Vale
Fifth Round Opponent: Sunderland (H)
Port Vale still haven’t made it through to the fifth round. Yet, even if the side sitting at the foot of England’s third-tier somehow bungle their way past Bristol City in their rearranged tie, it would take a miracle to make it much further.
16. Mansfield Town
Fifth Round Opponent: Arsenal (H)
Nigel Clough has one hell of a task on his hands if he is to claim the one domestic trophy which eluded his legendary father.
Brian Clough famously lifted two European Cups and as many top-flight titles but never won the FA Cup—a fact which gnawed away at him with more ferocity with each passing year. After losing his only FA Cup final in 1991 with Nottingham Forest against Tottenham Hotspur, Clough dramatically claimed that “Wembley stank to its rafters.”
Should Clough Jr steer his League One outfit past Arsenal in the fifth round at Field Mill, it would represent a triumph almost akin to a trophy.
15. Bristol City
The winner of our rescheduled #EmiratesFACup Fourth Round tie with Port Vale will host Sunderland in the Fifth Round. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/9FHgeJo8JC
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) February 16, 2026
Fifth Round Opponent: Sunderland (H)
Counterintuitively, had Bristol City been drawn against a superior opponent their chances of progression would arguably have been better. Gerhard Struber’s Championship outfit are textbook counter-attackers. Let the opposition have possession and spear forward in transition is their favoured ploy.
However, Sunderland are far too canny for that tactic to fly and will likely soak up any of Bristol City’s quick thrusts.
14. Wolves
Fifth Round Opponent: Liverpool (H)
Wolverhampton Wanderers are effectively already consigned to the Championship and their season may very well be made entirely redundant after being drawn against Liverpool in the fifth round.
“We’ll be ready to run and fight,” is about as ambitious as Rob Edwards has been willing to get.
13. Wrexham
Fifth Round Opponent: Chelsea (H)
As excited as Ryan Reynolds may have been by Wrexham drawing Chelsea in the fifth round—once Hugh Jackman had confirmed that his team would be hosting the tie—it’s not a pairing which does their chances of advancing a great deal of good.
A glorious defeat, perhaps with the added jeopardy of extra time, would nevertheless make for a compelling episode of the next season’s Welcome to Wrexham.
12. Southampton
To Craven Cottage in the cup 🏆 pic.twitter.com/iXbOP0AmuS
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 16, 2026
Fifth Round Opponent: Fulham (A)
It’s been a rocky return to the Championship for the Saints, who promptly ended Will Still’s real life Football Manager save before they even entered the cup.
Up against Premier League opposition, the one piece of consolation Southampton can take from the fifth-round draw is that their last trip to Craven Cottage ended in a 0–0 stalemate. That point represented 17% of their total haul away from home in last season’s campaign.
11. Norwich City
Fifth Round Opponent: Leeds (A)
Norwich City have been a team transformed under Philippe Clement. The former Monaco and Rangers boss has inspired not-so-fanciful aspirations of promotion in a side which was within the relegation zone as recently as January.
A trip to a rejuvenated Leeds at Elland Road is not the worst possible draw, but doesn’t exactly offer great hope for the continuation of that upward momentum.
10. Fulham
Fifth Round Opponent: Southampton (H)
Marco Silva has spent enough time in England to know that it is a manager’s obligation to wistfully gush about the importance of the FA Cup. But actions speak louder than words.
After a trio of consecutive league defeats, Silva made 10 changes for Fulham’s fourth-round tie against Championship side Stoke City. It took a late intervention from Harrison Reed to avoid a potential stumble but whether Silva’s priorities will have changed by the time Southampton come to Craven Cottage remains to be seen.
For a club which has never won a major trophy throughout its entire 147-year history, it would be some feat to win a competition their manager actively doesn’t care about.
9. West Ham
Fifth Round Opponent: Brentford (H)
“The FA Cup is a beautiful competition,” Nuno Espírito Santo insisted before West Ham’s fourth round tie against Burton Albion. “It’s a good opportunity for us because good performances and results always help.”
It’s also a good opportunity to pick up injuries which a team desperately scrapping against relegation absolutely doesn’t need.
The Hammers needed extra time to scrape past those third-tier opponents and could very well have their sights re-focused solely on Premier League survival when they come up against Brentford.
8. Leeds
Fifth Round Opponent: Norwich City (H)
Leeds United have not found their way to the last eight of the FA Cup since 2003. It’s been almost 40 years since they made it to a semi-final but Daniel Farke has the Yorkshire outfit dreaming again.
A favourable draw has also helped their case.
7. Newcastle
Fifth Round Opponent: Man City (H)
Newcastle United have already been knocked out of one domestic cup competition by Manchester City this season and the fifth round draw gave them the chance to make it two-for-two.
Home advantage is on the Magpies’ side but that didn’t help them in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final a matter of weeks ago.
6. Sunderland
Fifth Round Opponent: Port Vale or Bristol City (A)
The playoff final winners have fond recent memories of Wembley and there isn’t an entirely convincing argument to suggest why they can’t return to football’s spiritual home.
Sunderland fall in the sweet spot of being safe from relegation but outside the realistic realms of European qualification to potentially even rest players specifically for the FA Cup.
5. Brentford
Fifth Round Opponent: West Ham (A)
Thomas Frank always took a curiously dim view of the FA Cup at Brentford. Across their first three seasons in the Premier League, the Bees tumbled out of the third round with a rotated XI on each occasion.
Keith Andrews has managed to navigate the banana skin of an away tie against non-League Macclesfield Town and is well-placed in the league to focus on a deep cup run.
4. Man City
Fifth Round Opponent: Newcastle (A)
When Pep Guardiola won Barcelona’s first ever European Cup as a player in 1992 at Wembley Stadium, he sat on the turf debating with a teammate about the number of steps on the famous staircase leading up to the royal box.
Guardiola soon found out for himself (it was 39 before being expanded to 107 after the stadium was renovated). Manchester City have taken 21 trips to Wembley under the Catalan coach yet only two of those visits have ended with a hoist of the FA Cup trophy.
City have other priorities this season but another skip up those steps is never too far away.
3. Arsenal
Fifth Round Opponent: Mansfield (A)
Arsenal’s quality is not in doubt, it’s more a question of stamina. Declan Rice is the lungs of this Gunners team and looks as though he’s been holding his breath for 90 minutes at the end of each contest, greedily gulping mouthfuls of oxygen as soon as the final whistle blows after invariably draining battles.
Should Mikel Arteta's side continue to land favourable ties against lower league opposition, the dream of the quadruple may stay alive for a little longer. But if the Gunners are to slip up in any competition, the FA Cup would perhaps be the one they are most willing to give up.
2. Chelsea
Fifth Round Opponent: Wrexham (A)
Whatever the circumstance, whoever the manager, Chelsea remain a perennial danger in cup competitions. Enzo Maresca collected two titles last season, while the eclectic collection of his predecessors steered Chelsea to six domestic cup finals between 2020–24.
Liam Rosenior has rapidly proven to be an adept tactician in one-off contests and has the range of squad options to balance a battle across three different competitions.
1. Liverpool
Fifth Round Opponent: Wolves (A)
If you ask Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s chances of a cup run rest solely at the surprisingly small feet of Dominik Szoboszlai. The romping midfielder who wears a U.K. size 7 (9 in the U.S.) has been the ultimate bellwether for the Reds during a flailing defence of their Premier League campaign.
Without any chance of retaining their title, Arne Slot will be eager to paper over the cracks of this disastrous season with a shiny pot of silver. The only issue is if Liverpool slip too far behind in the race for Champions League qualification which—if you ask Arsène Wenger—is the real trophy.
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Grey Whitebloom is a writer, reporter and editor for Sports Illustrated FC. Born and raised in London, he is an avid follower of German, Italian and Spanish top flight football.