PLAY THE ADVANTAGE

Here are the referees for the upcoming fifth round of the FA Cup, held Saturday through Monday, February 15-17.

Several big matches, including Manchester City and Chelsea, where Phil Dowd will once again have the joy of dealing with Manuel Pelligrini and Jose Mourinho in the same stadium. (He should get some form of hazard pay.) Sunday will see current top four sides Arsenal and Liverpool clash, with Howard Webb in the middle.

One interesting note: Champions League matches are this coming week on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Europa League on Thursday. The referee announcements in the tournaments are always made two days prior to the match, usually while the referee is en route.

This means Mark Clattenburg and Martin Atkinson’s Saturday matches could still see them with enough rest time (they need two days minimum) to take a Champions League match either day this week. Howard Webb’s big Sunday match will mean he could only take a Wednesday or Thursday match. We’ll see how these matches affect England’s elite referees in Europe probably sometime during the weekend.

1 Manchester City FC v Chelsea (Saturday)
Referee Philip Dowd
Assistant Referees Michael Mullarkey & Stuart Burt
Fourth Official Michael Jones

2 Sheffield United FC v Nottingham Forest FC (Sunday)
Sunday 16 February
Referee Michael Oliver
Assistant Referees Peter Bankes & Matthew Wilkes
Fourth Official Sebastian Stockbridge

3 Arsenal FC v Liverpool FC (Sunday)
4pm, Sunday 16 February
Referee Howard Webb
Assistant Referees Darren England & Simon Beck
Fourth Official Neil Swarbrick

4 Brighton & Hove Albion v Hull City FC (Monday)
7.45pm, Monday 17 February
Referee Lee Probert
Assistant Referees Peter Kirkup & David Bryan
Fourth Official Lee Collins

5 Cardiff City FC v Wigan Athletic FC (Saturday)
Referee Martin Atkinson
Assistant Referees Steve Child & Simon Long
Fourth Official Keith Stroud

6 Sheffield Wednesday FC v Charlton Athletic (Saturday)
Referee Mark Clattenburg
Assistant Referees Gary Beswick & Harry Lennard
Fourth Official Mark Heywood

7 Sunderland A.F.C. v Southampton FC (Saturday)
Referee Michael Dean
Assistant Referees Darren Cann & Jake Collin
Fourth Official Paul Tierney

8 Everton FC v Swansea City FC (Sunday)
1.30pm, Sunday 16 February
Referee Kevin Friend
Assistant Referees Simon Bennett & Andrew Halliday
Fourth Official David Webb