With the top 8 SL sides from last season now entering the cup, what chance is there of an upset.
Of the 8 fixtures, 4 are all SL, 3 have SL against lower league sides and there is just one fixture that guarantees the progression of a lower league side.

HULL FC v Castleford
WAKEFIELD V Widnes
Dewsbury v HALIFAX
SALFORD v Hull KR
Bradford v LEEDS
CATSLAN v Doncaster
WARRINGTON v Wigan
Huddersfield v SAINTS

My predictions in capitals but, can there be an upset ?
Bradford, with John Kear in charge is possibly the only chance of a shock but you would have to expect that Leeds, even with poor form, will overcome them fairly comfortably, with Salford and KR possibly being the most difficult to call.

On form Saints shouldn't have a problem with Huddersfield but it's just the sort of game they could slip up in.
If I recall the league game up there was nip and tuck before Mcgilvray made a mistake behind the line for Saints to score, then they kicked on from there.
If Cas get their act together they could do Hull.
With Leeds v Bradford a lot will depend on how Leeds respond to Furners sacking, could go either way.

Really cant see Leeds getting done by Bradford but, you may be right about Hull FC. It will depend who actually plays.
If they are without Sneyd and Kelly again, they could slip up but, Cas are just busted.

There's always the chance of a shock result, and there's a chance that there could be 4 championship clubs in the next round

Bradford v Leeds has got John Kear written all over it.

I cannot see these three getting beat. The other games, I'd probably agree with you too. If any of those highlighted lost, I'd call that a shock. The other ties wouldn't be so.

Agree with this, I can't see the cross division ties going the way of the non SL clubs. The ties between clubs from the same division may go against the formbook/expectations but none would be considered as shocks in the sense we normally use it for cup ties.

I expect either Saints or Warrington to win the cup but should us and Huddersfield manage to put them both out on sunday then the cup could go to any of the other SL clubs still in the cup. Might make the cup more interesting (though not for Saints and Wire fans obviously) should us and Huddersfield do so.

If Leeds turn up, they have a chance of turning Bradford over.

Widnes resting a few players for the Wakefield game....they have nothing else to play for really, might as well go for it !

On the basis that they should be safe against relegation (their form is way to good to face the drop), that would be a strange decision.

Also with Sneyd and Kelly fit for the Cas game, I cant see Cas making it into the next round.
Maybe Radford was keeping them fresh

The higher you finish up the league the more cash you have for next season. With Toronto presumably out of it - next season in the championship will have about 8 teams going to try and get promotion to superleague. They aren’t safe yet but you are right they aren’t likely to go down. That said the league is still Widnes’ priority.

Maybe they see the Leigh as more important (and winnable

).