The magic for which the FA Cup is famous around the world is that small town teams get a chance to prove themselves against the big boys, and often reach the latter stages of the competition. When it comes to winning the cup though, small clubs often fail in their ambitions and are an easy prey to the Premier League’s elite. One such notable exception was Wigan Athletic in the 2012/13 season, but other than them, it has all been Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool winning the competition for the past 25 years or so. This year should be no different, and the winner of the competition will likely be one of the clubs above. But let’s see which club is the likeliest to have the trophy in their cabinet come May. 

Manchester United

Manchester United have been playing dreary football all season long, and their last match against Sheffield United was the culmination of this. Things are not looking good for Van Gaal as fans are starting to lose their patience and can’t stand watching their team produce the same dreadful brand of football week in week out.

In the fourth round they have been drawn away to Derby. This might seem like an easy game on paper, but it will be much more difficult in reality. Paul Clement’s side are second in the Championship, play wonderful football, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they eliminate United quite easily. Even if they don’t however, someone else definitely will in the next rounds. This will be a season to forget for the Red Devils.

Arsenal

The next contender on this list is Arsenal. They face Burnley in the fourth round in what will surely be a great game for the Championship side. Arsenal have been playing quite remarkably in the Premier League this season and are the prime candidates for the domestic title.

However, this, and the fact that Arsenal will be facing Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16 in February, surely means that the focus will be shifted to these two competitions and not the FA Cup. If we also factor in Arsene’s preference for playing youngsters in the cups, and the fact that the Gunners won the FA Cup last season (they might not approach the competition with the same motivation now that they have bigger targets) and Arsenal are suddenly not much of a contender. All in all, the Gunners might win the league, but they’ll probably sacrifice the FA Cup in doing so.

Manchester City

Manchester City are the favourites to win the FA Cup according to the bookies, and with the talent they have on their books it wouldn’t surprise anyone. They have been drawn away to either Wycombe or Aston Vila away in the fourth round, and in all likelihood, they’ll win there without any problems.

However, as with the other two clubs already mentioned here, Pelegrini’s team does have its flaws. First of all, they have an extremely expensive and yet unbelievably shaky defence when their captain Kompany isn’t in the team. Secondly, their midfield is overly reliant on an ageing Yaya Toure, who when push comes to shove will probably decide to rest his body in cup games, and save himself for the other three competitions they are still in. And finally, there is the striker issue, with Aguero suffering from every possible injury known to medicine, and Wilfried Bony often being hit and miss when playing this season.

These problems, together with the importance their sheikh owner has placed on the Champions League this season, should see the Citizens in the same situation as Arsenal, and it shouldn’t surprise us if they sacrifice the domestic cup for the glory and money the European stage brings.

Chelsea

This leads us to the final serious FA Cup contender this season, and that’s the joint third favourite with the bookies, Chelsea. The Blues face the winner of the match between Northampton and MK Dons away, and have surely had the easiest draw out of all the big guns. From firm Coral favorites to has beens.

As is already well known, Chelsea have been playing amazingly poor under Mourinho this season, and were in danger of relegation, before the owner decided to sack the Portuguese and recall his old confidant Guus Hiddink.

The Dutchman had once already served as the fireman to ease down the tensions within the club when he was brought in to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2009. He had an amazing second half of the season then and reached the semi-final of the Champions League and more importantly won the FA Cup.

Hiddink is a great man manager and knows how to get the best out of his players. In fact, when he was managing the Australian national team at the 2006 World Cup, fans loved him so much that they made up slogans like “No Guus, No Glory,” “Guus for P.M.” and “In Guus We Trust.” Some fans even thought that Guus Hiddink was their lucky charm and they called out his name during games just because of that.

If you feel as lucky as people from Australia, you can go here – http:\/\/www.casinoshortlist.org/software/ and play in some of their real money mobile casinos. You can even call out the Guus Hiddink slogans for good luck. On a more serious note though, as great a manager as Hiddink is, he still can’t deliver the impossible and win the Premier League or the Champions League with this Blues squad.

That basically leaves Chelsea with just the FA Cup to play for. This has been confirmed by Hiddink in his post match interview after the Scunthorpe game, which has again reaffirmed everyone’s belief that winning the FA Cup is Chelsea’s only chance for silverware this season. Basically, Chelsea we’ll be the only big club which will be approaching FA Cup matches with all guns blazing, and that’s why they are the most likely club to be on the podium at Wembley in May.