Chelsea host Cardiff, Pompey face bitter rivals

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LONDON: FA Cup holders Chelsea will face Championship club and 2008 finalists Cardiff in the fifth round, while Portsmouth make the short trip to face bitter rivals Southampton at St Mary’s.Chelsea have won the Cup twice in the last three seasons and Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be strong favourites to advance to the quarter-finals after a relatively kind draw.

The Blues are the only surviving member of the Premier League’s big four left in the Cup after Arsenal followed Manchester United and Liverpool out of the competition with a 3-1 defeat at Stoke on Sunday.

Stoke’s reward for seeing off Arsene Wenger’s under-strength Gunners is a trip to Manchester City, who defeated Scunthorpe 4-2 on Sunday.

Premier League strugglers Portsmouth, who won the FA Cup in 2008, get the chance to renew hostilities with League One Southampton, who as a Second Division club won the Cup in 1976 with a stunning victory over Manchester United and also reached the 2003 final.

Pompey were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton in January 2005 in the teams’ last meeting at St Mary’s.

Elsewhere, League One club Leeds, who beat Manchester United in the third round, will travel to Bolton if they can defeat Tottenham in their fourth round replay at Elland Road.

Aston Villa will face a local derby against Wolverhampton if Mick McCarthy’s team win their replay at Championship team Crystal Palace.

Derby host in-form Birmingham and Fulham will play the winners of the replay between League Two side Notts County and Premier League outfit Wigan.

There will be at least one Championship side in the last eight as Reading, victors over Liverpool and Burnley in the competition this season, host West Bromwich Albion. — AFP