Leeds Utd seek another scalp

Leeds United completed the biggest shock of the third round when they ousted Manchester United from the FA Cup at Old Trafford earlier this month.

This afternoon, they will be looking to maintain their giant-killing run when they travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur.

The good news for Leeds is that striker Jermaine Beckford has decided to stay at Elland Road until the end of the season when his contract will run out. Still, the fans are hopeful that the League One club will be able to offer an attractive contract to Beckford to prolong his career at Leeds.

Beckford, with 20 goals on his personal chart this season, was a main target for Newcastle and Everton. After scoring the winner at Old Trafford, the young forward will be keen to further raise his profile with another strong showing at White Hart Lane.

Last Saturday, Tottenham were frustrated by the excellent goalkeeping of Hull's Boaz Myhill who produced a string of fine saves to earn his team a priceless draw in London.

In the previous round Tottenham, who lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the league in midweek, ditched Peterborough 4-0.

In the past four meetings in the FA Cup, Leeds won only once... in the 1971-72 quarter-finals at Elland Road (2-1). They went on to lift the silverware that year. In the other three cup clashes with Spurs, all at White Hart Lane, two of them went into a replay.

1998-99 (fifth round): 1-1. Spurs won replay 2-0.

1981-82 (fourth round): Spurs-Leeds 1-0.

1953-54 (third round): 3-3. Spurs won replay 1-0.

After easing past Watford 5-0 in the third round, cup holders Chelsea travel to Preston who slaughtered Colchester 7-0 at Deepdale.

Chelsea are back in form after putting seven past Sunderland (7-2) last week. This was the first time the Blues netted seven times in the top flight in 50 years. The last time was when Jimmy Greaves netted a nap-hand for Chelsea in a 7-1 mauling of West Brom at home (1960).

The most interesting of the three all-Premier clashes is the Goodison Park duel between Everton and Birmingham. The other two are Portsmouth-Sunderland and Stoke-Arsenal.

Their meetings in the Premier League this season: Birmingham-Everton 1-1 (Larsson-Bilyaletdinov); Sunderland-Portsmouth 1-1 (Bent-Kaboul); Arsenal-Stoke 2-0 (Arshavin, Ramsey).

Everton played their game of the season in a 2-0 win over Manchester City at home. They hardly put a foot wrong. Birmingham have now written a new page in their history after an unbeaten league run of 12 matches.

The Merseysiders lead Birmingham 2-1 in past FA Cup clashes with their last meeting being the fourth round tie of 2000 when the Blues went through 2-0.

Sunderland and Portsmouth face each other at the Stadium of Light.

This competition has secondary importance for both teams since their focus at the moment is to retain their status in the Premier League, particularly Portsmouth.

The Black Cats and Pompey met once before in the FA Cup with Sunderland reaching the fourth round 1-0 in 2000.

Arsenal, who went top of the Premier League on Wednesday with a 4-2 win over Bolton, shift their attentions to the FA Cup tomorrow when they play Stoke.

Last year, Arsenal went down in the semi-finals at Wembley, 2-1 to Chelsea. In seven previous meetings with the Potters, including two replays, Arsenal had always held the upper hand.

Manchester City, who beat city rivals United 2-1 in the opening leg of the League Cup semi-final earlier this week, will seek to advance in the FA Cup at the expense of Scunthorpe.

The 'Iron' knocked out fellow Championship members Barnsley at home in the previous round.

After eliminating Liverpool in a replay at Anfield, Championship side Reading have another chance to add another top-flight scalp in their encounter with Burnley at the Madejski Stadium, today.

Both sides are under new managers − Brian McDermott for Brendan Rodgers at Reading and Brian Laws for Owen Coyle, who quit Burnley for Bolton.

Newcastle and West Brom shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at St James's Park on Monday evening. This afternoon the duo will clash again at the Hawthorns in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Incidentally, the 'first round' match of the Championship, played in the Midlands on the opening day of the campaign, also resulted in a draw, 1-1. The two clubs are fighting it out to return to the Premier League.

In past meetings in the FA Cup, West Brom − always drawn at home − lead Newcastle 2-1, as follows:

1973-74 (fifth round): WBA-Newcastle 0-3.

1953-54 (fifth round): WBA-Newcastle 3-2. West Brom went on to lift the FA Cup.

1937-38 (third round): WBA-Newcastle 1-0.