27 January 2004	Tuesday	04 Zilhaj 1424

LONDON, Jan 26: Holders Arsenal will play London rivals Chelsea in the FA Cup for the fourth successive season following Monday's draw for the fifth round. The other outstanding tie will be either a local derby between Manchester United and Manchester City, or an all-Premier League match between United and Tottenham Hotspur who between them have won the trophy 18 times.

United saw off third division Northampton Town 3-0 on Sunday while Tottenham and Manchester City drew 1-1 at the City of Manchester Stadium. If Spurs win the replay at White Hart Lane on Feb 4 they will return to Manchester for the fifth-round tie at Old Trafford on the weekend of Feb 14-15.

There was disappointment for third division Swansea City, whose reward for knocking out first division Preston on Saturday was not a lucrative match against Premier League opposition as they had hoped but a trip to second division Tranmere Rovers.

The only other all-Premier League clash will be between Liverpool and Portsmouth whose one previous FA Cup meeting ended in the first penalty shoot-out in a semifinal.

The clubs drew 1-1 at Highbury and 0-0 at Villa Park in 1992 before Liverpool won 3-1 on penalties and went on to beat Sunderland in the final. Arsenal, bidding to become the first team to reach four successive finals and the first since 1886 to win the trophy three years in a row, beat Chelsea 2-0 in the 2002 final. They also knocked them out in the fifth round in 2001 and in the quarterfinals at Stamford Bridge last season, winning 3-1 in a replay after a 2-2 draw at Highbury.

It will be their 18th Cup meeting. Chelsea, lying third in the Premier League table, have not beaten leaders Arsenal in any of their 10 previous FA Cup ties since winning a third-round second replay in 1947.

FA Cup fifth round draw: Man United v Man City or Tottenham Hotspur Tranmere v Swansea Telford or Millwall v Burnley Sunderland v Birmingham City Sheffield United v Coventry or Colchester Arsenal v Chelsea Liverpool v Portsmouth Everton or Fulham v West Ham (I).-Agencies