I start with a word of encouragement for an assortment of Premier League clubs licking their wounds after weekend FA Cup exits.
For Nottingham Forest: after an awful start to the season, you can put the cup setback behind you and focus on moving further away from the drop zone and embark on a long run in the Europa League.
For Spurs: the pressure grows on manager Thomas Frank with each passing week, a position which has greatly surprised this SBOTOP observer but there’s still too much talent in their ranks to stay downbeat for too long.
For Bournemouth, the heartbreaking penalty shoot-out loss at Newcastle, just days after they bid farewell to another of their top players (the third departure in six months), will naturally leave them feeling deflated.
Yet their FA Cup exit at the hands of Aston Villa doesn’t have to mean the end of their season. Remember, Bournemouth have barely looked back since the appointment of Andoni Iraola in 2023, shortly after escaping the drop, and have still got plenty to shout about and plenty to aim for.
Then there’s Everton, experiencing a new home this term with mixed results.
Sunderland deservedly knocked them out of the FA Cup on Saturday and David Moyes may have privately rued an inexperienced bench with eight first-team players out through injury, suspension or international duty.
But if they get those players back quickly and find some consistency, there is no reason why they can’t improve in the second half of the campaign and claim a top 10 finish for the first time since 2020-21 under Carlo Ancelotti.
And what of a team more than capable of delivering plenty of Premier League 2026 highlights.
Crystal Palace may have struggled over the past month, culminating in defeat at non-league Macclesfield at the weekend.
However, that should only remind the club’s owners how much they need to back their manager Oliver Glasner.
Remember, he is overseeing a squad which was ill-prepared for the demands of a debut European campaign, seriously weakened by injuries to Daniel Muñoz and Daichi Kamada, all the while a number of key players must already be feeling the effects of 34 games to date in a marathon season.
Thirty four games and it’s only January!
Let’s not forget though, the Eagles went on a club record 19-match unbeaten sequence between April and October and they are managed by someone who guided them to FA Cup glory last season, has them handily positioned in the Europa Conference and has overseen some superb victories already this term.
The Eagles deserve total respect and, with the right strengthening, can enjoy another successful springtime.
If the motto of the story is that Premier League 2026 betting odds don’t need to be damaged by an FA Cup exit, then what of Manchester United.
Their third round defeat at home to Brighton, just over four months after an unforgivable League Cup defeat at League Two Grimsby, mean they have exited both domestic cup competitions at the earliest possible stage for the first time since 1981-82.
It also means United face a 40-game season, their lowest since before World War One, a position which is hardly going to help the financial situation Sir Jim Ratcliffe has pledged to improve, but one he’s now added to substantially twice by sacking managers he backed at the end of the previous season – and to the tune of more than £200 million.
The decision to appoint Rubem Amorim has plunged the club to new depths and, while his sacking is undoubtedly the right call, there is also no question the next appointment has to be the right one.
If it is, the club can bounce back too.
The alternative is unthinkable.
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