FA Cup Results 2015 Week 8: Biggest Questions After Saturday's Action

The FA Cup might not be what it was decades ago in terms of allure and prestige, but the tournament is still capable of creating a moment of magic or two that supporters remember for years to come.

Saturday's action had a nice combination of bigger sides playing to type interspersed with underdogs pulling off major upsets. Those following the results couldn't have asked for much more.

Home	Result	Away
Blackburn	3-1	Swansea City
Birmingham	1-2	West Brom
Cardiff City	1-2	Reading
Chelsea	2-4	Bradford City
Derby County	2-0	Chesterfield
Manchester City	0-2	Middlesbrough
Preston North End	1-1	Sheffield United
Southampton	2-3	Crystal Palace
Sunderland	0-0	Fulham
Tottenham	1-2	Leicester City
Liverpool	0-0	Bolton

After what was a busy day, these three questions linger the most.

Biggest Questions

Will Chelsea's and Manchester City's Losses Have Any Impact on Premier League Title Race?

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Manchester City fell 2-0 to Middlesbrough, while Chelsea threw away a two-goal lead and surrendered four unanswered goals in a 4-2 defeat to Bradford City. The FA Cup fourth round couldn't have gone much worse for the two clubs competing for the Premier League title.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho didn't hold back in his evaluation of his team's performance, per The Guardian's Russell Kempson:

"

I feel happy for Bradford. In my bad feelings with the game and with the result, I can find space to feel happy for them. But on the other hand, I feel ashamed.

The players should feel exactly the same as I feel. This is the beauty of football, of the F.A. Cup. In not many sports is it possible that the best team loses to a team with completely different potential. But this is just one part of my feelings. I repeat the words that I used [on Friday] in the press conference: 'If we lose, it's a disgrace.'

"

Mourinho didn't start a completely full-strength side, but that's no excuse for allowing Bradford to have 51 percent of possession and 10 shots on goal.

Manchester City, meanwhile, couldn't break down the Boro defense despite starting David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Stevan Jovetic.

Of course, losing in the FA Cup on its own is unlikely to be any sort of setback for either club as each chases a league title. If anything, being involved in one less competition will allow City and Chelsea to shift their focus even more to the Premier League and Champions League.

With that said, this is yet another bad result for Manchester City without Yaya Toure. The Ivorian midfielder has earned deserved criticism for some of his performances this year, but it's clear how much his presence on the pitch means for his club.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Fernando is really struggling in midfield, and Vincent Kompany continues looking less and less like a world-class centre-back:

Manchester City could potentially be eight points back of Chelsea with a loss to the Blues in their next league match. Given their performance on Saturday, City will be lucky to get a draw at Stamford Bridge.

How Long Will Alan Pardew's Honeymoon Period Last?

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Make if four in a row for Crystal Palace since the arrival of Alan Pardew, and this might be the club's most impressive win of the four. Palace went into St. Mary's Stadium and fell behind to Southampton twice before Marouane Chamakh scored the go-ahead goal in the 39th minute.

Palace's form was bound to improve after the sacking of Neil Warnock, but who could've seen this coming? Per Phil McNulty of BBC Sport: 

After a draw to Aston Villa on New Year's Day, Crystal Palace were 18th in the table and only three points away from the bottom. Now, they're sitting comfortably in 13th, four points off the drop.

Here's a list of the club's next five matches.

Date	Opponent
Jan. 31	vs. Everton
Feb. 7	at Leicester City
Feb. 11	vs. Newcastle United
Feb. 21	vs. Arsenal
Feb. 28	at West Ham

Palace's next three fixtures are at least winnable, while Arsenal and West Ham will be tough tests, especially the latter on the road. In short, their strong run of form could conceivably continue well into February, by which time they could be flirting with a top-half position.

Are Liverpool in Trouble for Return Leg Against Bolton?

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Liverpool's performance was a bit reminiscent of a few years ago, when the Reds would dominate the midfield but fall woefully short in the final third. According to ESPN FC, they had 69 percent of possession and 24 shots but failed to score.

Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan deserves plenty of praise for keeping Liverpool off the scoresheet, but Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana offered little in the way of a goalscoring threat.

As NBC Sports' Kyle Martino posited, Sterling can be extremely frustrating at times when used in a more attacking role because his final touch can let him down:

Following the 0-0 draw, Liverpool will travel to the Macron Stadium on Feb. 4, where Bolton are unbeaten in their last eight matches. Making matters worse for the Reds is that they have Chelsea away next Tuesday, West Ham at home next Saturday and then follow their FA Cup replay with the Merseyside derby on Feb. 7.

Brendan Rodgers will have to rotate the squad somewhat during that stretch, and that might mean fielding a somewhat weaker side against Bolton in a week-and-a-half.

While an FA Cup title would be a great way for Steven Gerrard to conclude his Liverpool career, the Reds will have their hands full in their fourth-round replay.