Locking horns for the 100th time across all competitions, South London derby rivals Crystal Palace and Millwall clash at Selhurst Park on Saturday lunchtime with a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on the line.
The Eagles ran out 2-0 winners at Doncaster Rovers to make it this far, while their second-tier visitors also emerged as victors by the same scoreline away to Championship rivals Leeds United.
Match preview
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Evidently viewing FA Cup glory as a realistic aim for this Crystal Palace squad, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner has not been afraid to go strong versus lower-league opposition so far, and his reward has been two wins and two clean sheets en route to the last 16.
Palace have not blown either Stockport County or Doncaster Rovers to smithereens by any stretch, but Glasner's men cut professional figures against the latter on February 10, where strikes from Daniel Munoz and Justin Devenny secured a straightforward 2-0 success.
While Saturday's tie will mark only Palace's second appearance in the fifth round from the past six seasons, the historical omens favour the hosts, who have triumphed in each of their last three FA Cup games at this stage since being slain by Liverpool 10 years ago.
The 2021-22 semi-finalists have every reason to be confident of avoiding that fate this time around, though, as a 4-1 demolition of Champions League-competing Aston Villa marked their fourth win from their last five games, and their eighth from their last 11.
The soaring Eagles also seldom come up short against non-Premier League teams, having only lost one of their last 10 FA Cup matches against teams from a lower division, suffering a surprise third-round defeat to Derby County during the 2019-20 edition.
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Famous finalists in 2004, where they were slain by a Manchester United side housing a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo, Millwall have only progressed beyond the fifth round of the FA Cup three times since that 3-0 loss to the Red Devils at the Millennium Stadium.
However, even progressing beyond the third round represented Millwall's best run in the competition in four years, and the Lions are now just 90 minutes away from a first quarter-final appearance since the pre-COVID days of 2018-19.
Alex Neil's side benefitted from Leeds making several changes for their fourth-round match as the Whites prioritise their Premier League promotion charge, allowing Femi Azeez to bag a brace and send the Lions through at Elland Road, although that result came just four days before a humbling 5-1 Championship loss to Plymouth Argyle.
Millwall have since steadied the ship in the second tier, playing out back-to-back 1-1 stalemates with West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End before edging out Derby 1-0 on February 22, where Josh Coburn was the hero in the fifth minute of added time.
However, the visitors have to travel back a whopping 30 years for their last FA Cup win away to a top-flight team - stunning Arsenal 2-0 in 1995 - and a 2021-22 third-round meeting with Crystal Palace ended with the Michael Olise-inspired Eagles triumphing 2-1.
Team News
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The one minor negative from Palace's annihilation of Villa was stand-in captain Marc Guehi sustaining a small knee injury, although Glasner does not think that the issue will affect his availability for the visit of Millwall.
That is more than can be said for long-term knee victims Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure, though, while the long-serving Joel Ward also remains out of contention with a calf injury and fellow right-back Caleb Kporha is not in the squad.
Nathaniel Clyne should operate as a makeshift centre-back if Glasner decides not to risk Guehi, while Will Hughes picked up his 10th yellow card of the Premier League season against Villa but will serve that suspension in the imminent top-flight meeting with Ipswich Town.
Ex-Lions attacker Romain Esse will also face a possible reunion with his old club on Saturday, but the 19-year-old should start on the bench as Ismaila Sarr and Eberechi Eze support the centre-forward, potentially Eddie Nketiah after the former Arsenal man finally opened his Premier League account for the season in midweek.
While Esse is fine to face his erstwhile employers, Millwall cannot call upon three cup-tied troops in forward Aaron Connolly, centre-back Tristan Crama and winger Benicio Baker-Boaitey.
Left-back Joe Bryan was forced off with a cut to the foot against Derby, but Neil is confident that his problem is minor, and there is also hope that Ra'ees Bangura-Williams will return after missing out on selection against Derby.
However, Ryan Leonard, Calum Scanlon and Dan McNamara are out for the long-term due to injury, while none of Macaulay Langstaff, Duncan Watmore and Zak Lovelace should make the cut either.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Turner; Guehi, Lacroix, Richards; Munoz, Lerma, Hughes, Mitchell; Eze, Sarr; Nketiah
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Roberts; Harding, Tanganga, Cooper, Bryan; Saville, De Norre; Neghli, Cundle, Azeez; Coburn
We say: Crystal Palace 2-0 Millwall
Millwall have caught Palace at arguably the worst time, as Glasner's men have developed a taste for victories in 2025 and are on cloud nine after ripping Aston Villa to shreds.
Glasner's men have not been so merciless in the FA Cup so far, but we still cannot envisage any outcome other than a spot in the quarter-final draw for the Premier League side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
