“Man United always get an easy home FA Cup draw.”
“What about City?! Home against Salford…”
Heard that argument before?
BBC Sport has attempted to crunch the data around one of those classic rival fan disputes – who gets the easiest and hardest FA Cup draws?
First of all, some parameters.
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We’ve focused on the traditional Premier League ‘big six’ over the past decade (sorry Newcastle fans) of Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.
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That’s because the ‘big six’ have won 26 of the past 29 FA Cups between them. The others were Portsmouth, Wigan and Leicester.
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For consistency, the positions of opponents are where that team finished in the league pyramid that season, not where they were at the time of the game.
Here are the key points to help settle your arguments…
Chelsea will play at home to…
In terms of being drawn home or away, Chelsea have enjoyed the luck of the draw the most, being drawn at home 69% of the time since 2014-15.
People might be surprised to see Manchester United have been drawn away more than at home, given that in the three seasons between 2020-21 and 2022-23 they were drawn at home in nine of their 10 FA Cup ties.
That’s because fans forget that just before that run, they were drawn away seven times in a row.
Liverpool get more ‘tough’ away draws
Liverpool have had a ‘tough away draw’ most often in the past decade, being drawn away to a Premier League side 30% of the time (eight of 27 draws) and with half of those being at a ‘big six’ club.
Manchester City have been drawn away to a Premier League side on the most occasions (11 of 37 draws) with a 30% ratio, the same as Liverpool. But only two of those 11 away fixtures were against ‘big six’ clubs.
Chelsea have only been drawn away to a Premier League club in the FA Cup four times in their past 35 draws – and their only tie away at a ‘big six’ club was when Graham Potter was in charge and they got City in the third round in 2022-23.
Tottenham have not been drawn away to a ‘big six’ club in the past decade – although that’s partly because they haven’t historically gone as far in the competition as some of the other clubs.
Easiest runs to the Cup
In terms of measuring the easiest runs to the trophy over the past 10 years, that is a more subjective call – factoring in home and away draws, plus the level of opposition, and both sides’ form at the time.
But using the final league pyramid position for teams faced, here are the three most likely contenders:
1. Chelsea 2021-22: Chesterfield (99), Plymouth (51), Luton (26), Middlesbrough (27), Crystal Palace (12) and Liverpool (2). Average position of opponent = 36.
2. Man City 2018-19: Rotherham (42), Burnley (15), Newport (75), Swansea (30), Brighton (17) and Watford (11). Average position of opponent = 32.
3. Man Utd 2015-16: Sheff Utd (55), Derby (25), Shrewsbury (64), West Ham (7), Everton (11) and Crystal Palace (15). Average position of opponent = 30.
Hardest runs to the Cup
As for the hardest runs, here are the top three to consider – then you can vote and comment below:
Arsenal 2019-20: Leeds (21) at home; Bournemouth (18), Portsmouth (48), Sheffield United (9) all away; then Manchester City (2) and Chelsea (4). Four Premier League sides faced. Average position of opposition = 17.
Chelsea 2019-20: Nottingham Forest (27) at home, Hull (44) away, Liverpool (1) at home, Leicester (5) away, then Man Utd (3) and Arsenal (8). Four of that season’s Premier League top eight sides faced. Average position of opposition = 15.
Man City 2023-24: Huddersfield (43) at home, Tottenham (5) and Luton (18) away, Newcastle (7) at home, then Chelsea (6) and Man Utd (8). Average position of opposition = 15.
