Chelsea join top four hopeful

The romantic answer is ‘all of them’, but we all know that isn’t the case. Which clubs really should make winning the FA Cup a priority

Chelsea (v Manchester City on Sunday)
It will be unnerving for Chelsea fans to be in a situation in which their club has accepted that a top-four finish isn’t everything. It goes against everything they’ve known for the last two decades. Managers have been hired and fired and players bought in a panic at the slightest indication that Champions League qualification may be slipping from their grasp.

It’s particularly odd for that to be the case after the club spent a record amount on players in the summer and are expected to splash similar sums in January. But Todd Boehly and Clearlake recognise that Graham Potter has an imbalanced squad and aren’t expecting an immediate return on their investment. Still, something to show for it would be nice.

And although Potter has been told he will be given time by the Chelsea board to enact his and their vision for the club, the fans may not be quite so patient; the FA Cup would be a nice little titbit ahead of the potential feast to come.

Winning the FA Cup would also end what is a domestic trophy drought for modern-day Chelsea, who won 13 of them between 2004 and 2018 but none since.

Newcastle (v Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday)
Given they have a very real chance of qualifying for the Champions League and there is a relative lack of depth in their squad compared to those fighting it out for the top four, Newcastle could see the FA Cup as an unwanted distraction. But just think of the naked, tattooed torsos at Wembley.

And surprising though it is given they’re run by a state who won’t give a toss about the day-to-day wellbeing of Sheila and family from Byker, the club and its fans are as together as they’ve been this century. FA Cup glory will do more to solidify that bond than qualifying for the Champions League a year earlier than expected.

Aston Villa (v Stevenage on Sunday)
“The lads are buying into the ideas and listening to all the small, little details and I think they will help us progress and get to where we need to get to,” Ollie Watkins said when asked about Unai Emery’s impact on the team.

His four domestic cups in two years at Paris Saint-Germain may not mean a great deal, but the four Europa League trophies do. Emery is one of the great knockout football managers. He’s already lifted fears of relegation in his short time at the helm…