FA Cup: Quarter Final Preview

Traditionally, the quarter-finals is the stage of the FA Cup when the Premier League's big boys start to command the tournament. However, this year, something has changed. Arsenal and Liverpool fell in the last round, with the likes of Blackburn, Everton and Aston Villa not making it past the third round. So it has come to pass that the final eight consists of only four Premier League teams. Manchester United, Chelsea, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough are the only top flight sides in action this weekend, and it's the Blues' game against Barnsley and Boro's tie at home to Cardiff that will attract the most attention as fans of the Championship sides and neutrals alike look for shocks.

But is it really possible that the underdog duo will pull through at this late stage of the tournament? Although they will go into the game as massive underdogs, Simon Davey's men do have a number of factors working in their favour. For starters, they have home advantage and that could prove vital, with the possibility of some of Chelsea's stars not being able to adjust to the tight confines and intense atmosphere of a lower league ground handing the Tykes something to work off.

They will also have the confidence they got from their last round shock at Anfield and, of course, anything can happen in the course of a knockout game, particularly at this stage of the season when matches are coming thick and fast for the Premier League's top teams and rotation becomes the order of the day.

However, times have changed at Oakwell since that shock win at Liverpool. First and foremost, it has been revealed that playmaker Anderson De Silva will be out for up to seven months after a scan showed a leg injury to be far worse than expected.