Fifth round ties have been provisionally scheduled to take place between February 19 and 22 and the winning clubs will pocket £180,000 from the FA prize fund.
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Football writer Liam Canning welcomed the tie while Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News noted the favourable run of cup draws they’ve had under manager Louis van Gaal.
Chelsea recorded a convincing 5-1 win away to Championship side MK Dons to make it through to the next round.
Spurs won 3-1 at Sky Bet League 1 Colchester on Saturday, while the Eagles beat Stoke 1-0.
Manchester City’s Fernandinho, centre, battles for the ball with Aston Villa’s Jordan Ayew, left, and Aston Villa’s Leandro Bacuna during the English FA Cup fourth round soccer match between Aston Villa and Manchester City at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016.
Liverpool or West Ham travel to Championship Blackburn, Watford host Leeds and Reading play West Brom or Peterborough.
And their reward is a visit to Stamford Bridge to face the Londoners, now under the stewardship of Guus Hiddink. Oscar scored a hat-trick for the Blues, but most importantly Eden Hazard hinted of returning to old form having finally found the back of the net to end his goal drought.
Elsewhere in the draw, United were drawn away to League One side Shrewsbury whilst holders Arsenal are at home to Hull City, a repeat of the 2014 final.
Portsmouth, FA Cup winners in 2008 but now languishing in the fourth division, were in sight of a major upset when Gary Roberts put them ahead in the 43rd minute of their meeting with south-coast rivals Bournemouth.
When told of the draw, Hiddink, who won the FA Cup in his last temporary spell as Chelsea boss in 2009, said: “It is already a final”.
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Arsenal and Hull City will meet each other in the FA Cup for the third year running with the Gunners eliminating the Tigers with a 2-0 win last year.
