SOCCER/English FA Cup:Arsene Wenger has questioned the wisdom of Manchester United making a 6,000-mile "sunshine break" to Saudi Arabia in the middle of the season and suggested that such heavy travelling could derail the holders' title challenge.
United spent five days in Riyadh last week for a training camp and friendly, which earned the club around £1 million. With the return flight diverted to Egypt for refuelling, the squad spent three hours on the plane at Cairo and did not arrive back in Manchester until 8pm on Thursday. Their somewhat jaded performance against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday - albeit in a game they eventually won 3-1 - showed the flip side of such trips.
"I have never done it and I am not a fanatic about it," said Wenger, whose side were drawn against Manchester United in the standout tie of fifth round of the FA Cup. "You can suffer in the next game as you travel, you come back, you need time to adjust and you switch off when you are away to a different country. So the focus could go a little bit and you can suffer."
Champions Manchester United have won the FA Cup a record 11 times, while Arsenal have collected the famous trophy on 10 occasions. The two teams last met in the final in 2005, a match which Arsenal won 5-4 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes.
League One side Huddersfield Town will travel to Stamford Bridge to face last year's winners Chelsea.
Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson will take on former team Middlesbrough while Liverpool will play Championship opposition in Barnsley at Anfield.
League One strugglers Bristol Rovers face Championship side Southampton.
Portsmouth also have Championship opposition when they travel to Deepdale to play Preston, who beat Premier League bottom side Derby County 4-1 at Pride Park on Saturday.
"It could have been a good deal worse," said Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, whose side are one of six Premier League teams left in the competition.
"It's a decent draw against a club with great history and I'm looking forward to going up there maybe meeting people like Tom Finney.
"We've got a chance because we have our Africa Nations Cup players back and when we're at our strongest I think we can give anybody a game."
And two Championship sides are guaranteed a berth in the quarter-finals as Cardiff City host Wolves at Ninian Park and Coventry City take on West Brom at the Ricoh Arena.
Meanwhile Sheffield United will be hoping for another Premier League scalp after their 2-1 victory over Manchester City when they take on Middlesbrough at Bramall Lane.
And manager Robson will come face-to-face with his former club, whom he guided to the 1997 FA Cup final during his six and a half years in charge at the Riverside Stadium.
"It's a very interesting draw. It's one the lads are entitled to think they are in with a chance of winning after beating two Premier League sides already," said Robson. "Personally, I've still got a lot of good friends at Middlesbrough, including (chairman) Steve Gibson, and it will be nice to see them again."
