Southampton have been handed a home tie against the Premier League leaders in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. More to follow
Tonda Eckert's side will face Arsenal after seeing off Fulham in the fifth round on Sunday. Ross Stewart's last-minute penalty was enough to send Southampton through after Léo Scienza and Tom Fellows had missed golden chances to score.
All four ties are scheduled for the weekend of Saturday, 4th April, with the full fixture and ticket details available on the Southampton FC official site soon.
Full FA Cup quarter-final draw
Southampton v Arsenal
Chelsea v Port Vale
Manchester City v Liverpool
West Ham United or Brentford v Leeds United
The tie sets up a repeat of the 2003 FA Cup final, which Arsenal won 1-0. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was a sea of yellow on that occasion, and Southampton will hope that they can turn St Mary's a similar colour next month.
The Saints knocked the Gunners out in the fourth round in 2021, Gabriel putting through his own net to hand Southampton a shock win.
Arsenal will have fond memories of 1979 quarter-final
The Arsenal will have fond memories of the 1979 tournament, which they went on to win in a famous final against Manchester United. Alan Sunderland scored the decisive goal in the 89th minute.
That has some significance as Southampton and Arsenal met at the same stage that year. Austin Hayes scored in a 1-1 draw at the Dell before Alan Sunderland scored eiter side of half-time to knock the Saints out in the replay.
Southampton did make a trip to Wembley that season in the League Cup where they were beaten 3-2 by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest.
With Wembley just one victory away, Saints fans will be grateful for a home tie at least. Southampton are unbeaten in ten matches and won't be taken lightly by Mikel Arteta.
Southampton will hope that with Arsenal challenging for Premier League and Champions League glory, the FA Cup might be the lowest of their priorities. By that time, of course, they might already have the EFL Cup to display at the Emirates Stadium.
The Championship side may have other priorities too. With the play-offs within reach, Southampton could probably do without another cup match, especially one as challenging as this one.
Some will argue that the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition in the world, should take priority. This is the Saints' 50th anniversary of the famous year in 1976, when Bobby Stokes scored the winning goal to defeat Manchester United in the final at Wembley. Perhaps it should take priority?