Carling Cup action continues on Wednesday and there are three more fourth round ties to look forward to.
Newcastle United, conquerors of Chelsea in the previous round, face a difficult test against Arsenal at St James’ Park.
The Magpies scored a fine 4-3 victory at Stamford Bridge to secure their passage through to the last-16 and a similar result is unexpected this time around.
Chris Hughton’s side are the sportsbook outsiders, but they may have a better chance knowing that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is likely to rest a number of first-team stars.
With Premier League and Champions League commitments taking top priority, new blood could be placed on show this week.
Newcastle should go into the contest in confident mood after their fine 2-1 away day success at West Ham United on Saturday evening.
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Aston Villa welcome Championship club Burnley to the Midlands in what is an all-claret affair.
Villa, who lost out to Manchester United in last season’s final, will be aiming to go one better and, with talent in the form of Stewart Downing, Stephen Ireland and Ashley Young, the Villans certainly have the potential to sweep the Turf Moor-based outfit to one side.
Burnley will be seeking a marked improvement following Saturday’s shocking 4-0 defeat at home to Reading.
To make matters worse, defender Leon Cort was given his marching orders and manager Brian Laws could have had an easier fixture in which to right their recent wrongs.
Struggling West Ham take on Stoke City at Upton Park and the Londoners will want to forget about their Premier League worries for an evening.
The defeat to Newcastle keeps the Hammers locked on the foot of the table with just six points from their opening nine games and boss Avram Grant is already feeling the strain after making the move from Portsmouth in the summer.
Stoke themselves fell to a despairing late 2-1 setback at home to Manchester United on Sunday and coach Tony Pulis should be striving for his men to react in the capital.
Expect both managers to ring the changes for this one though with tough away tests at Arsenal and Everton respectively at the weekend.
