FA Cup third round: City host Chelsea as Man Utd play Everton
Chelsea face the sternest of tests if they are to reach a fourth straight FA Cup final after being drawn away to Premier League rivals Manchester City in the third round.
Graham Potter’s men, who headed into the World Cup break sitting eighth in the table, will head for the Etihad Stadium as the big guns enter the competition over the weekend of 6-9 January.
The Blues have made it to Wembley in each of the last three years, but have ultimately gone down to Arsenal, Leicester and Liverpool respectively.
Jürgen Klopp’s side, who beat Chelsea on penalties last season to lift the trophy for the eighth time, will also launch their defence against top-flight opposition when they welcome struggling Wolves to Anfield.
Erik ten Hag will get his first taste of world football’s oldest club competition when Manchester United host Everton, while West Ham make the short trip to Brentford and Southampton travel to Crystal Palace.
League One rivals Oxford and Sheffield Wednesday landed plum home ties when they drew Premier League leaders Arsenal and high-flying Newcastle respectively.
National League Boreham Wood’s reward for their 2-0 second round win at League One Bristol Rovers was a home tie against League One Accrington, while fifth-tier leaders Wrexham make the trip to Sky Bet Championship Coventry and Chesterfield face West Brom at the Technique Stadium.
Dagenham & Redbridge will entertain Premier League Leicester if they can beat League Two Gillingham in a second-round replay, and fourth-tier Stevenage have landed a day out at top-flight Aston Villa.
Tottenham host League One Portsmouth, and Brighton travel to Middlesbrough in FA Cup winner Michael Carrick’s first taste of the competition as Boro boss, while Championship counterparts Cardiff host Leeds and Burnley go to Bournemouth.
Nottingham Forest and Fulham both face second tier opposition on the road in the shape of Blackpool and Hull respectively.
The draw threw up six all-Championship ties between Preston and Huddersfield, Norwich and Blackburn, Luton and Wigan, Bristol City and Swansea, Millwall and Sheffield United and Reading and Watford. PA
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Thank you very much for joining me. I hope your team got what they wanted.
The third-round draw in full
Preston v Huddersfield
Middlesbrough v Brighton
Chesterfield v West Brom
Manchester City v Chelsea
Charlton or Stockport v Walsall
Boreham Wood v Accrington
Tottenham v Portsmouth
Derby v Barnsley
Cardiff v Leeds
Brentford v West Ham
Bournemouth v Burnley
Coventry v Wrexham
Norwich v Blackburn
Aston Villa v Stevenage
Luton v Wigan
Oxford v Arsenal
Fleetwood v QPR
Liverpool v Wolves
Grimsby v Burton
Blackpool v Nottingham Forest
Dagenham & Redbridge or Gillingham v Leicester
Forest Green v Birmingham
Bristol City v Swansea
Hartlepool v Stoke
Hull v Fulham
Palace v Southampton
Millwall v Sheffield United
Shrewsbury v Sunderland
Sheffield Wednesday v Newcastle
Manchester United v Everton
Reading v Watford
Ipswich v Rotherham
Ties to be played weekend of 7 January.
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The standout fixture will be Chelsea’s trip to Manchester City. There a few potential upsets on the cards, notably Arsenal’s trip to Oxford and whoever Leicester face. Will it be Dagenham & Redbridge or Gillingham?
There some interesting all-Premier League clashes, with Everton travelling to play Manchester United and Liverpool hosting Wolves not to mention Brentford v West Ham. All-in-all, there is something for everybody and that’s the most important thing.
Ipswich v Rotherham
Manchester United v Everton
Oooof!
Sheffield Wednesday v Newcastle
Shrewsbury v Sunderland
Millwall v Sheffield United
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Hull v Fulham
Millwall v Sheffield United
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Hull v Fulham
Hartlepool v Stoke
Bristol City v Swansea
Forest Green v Birmingham
Dagenham & Redbridge or Gillingham v Leicester
That will be good fun either way
Blackpool v Nottingham Forest
Grimsby v Burton
Liverpool v Wolves
Fleetwood v QPR
Oxford v Arsenal
Now we are talking.
Even Manish isn’t very excited by this
Luton v Wigan
Aston Villa v Stevenage
Norwich v Blackburn
Coventry v Wrexham
We need more interesting ties here …
Bournemouth v Burnley
Brentford v West Ham
Cardiff v Leeds (spicy)
Derby v Barnsley
Tottenham v Portsmouth
Boreham Wood v Accrington Stanley
Charlton or Stockport v Walsall
Manchester City v Chelsea
That’s a big game.
Chesterfield v West Brom
Middlesbrough v Brighton
Preston v Huddersfield
The balls are in the hat!
Wright is joined by Rachel Brown-Finnis to pick the ties out.
Boreham Wood’s Luke Garrard wants “one of the big boys” in the third round. Arsenal would be very convenient for them.
Accrington Stanley’s John Coleman is hanging around in the background, too.
Aldridge’s mic has been turned on for him to praise Jurgen Klopp. Just draw the balls, please.
It’s Mark Wright (ex-Liverpool, not that bloke from Towie who once came on for Crawley) and John Aldridge!
Manish Bhasin is at Anfield for the draw. I was hoping for a cabin outside Oakwell but here we are. There is a small audience being forced to have fun.
Loosely linked to the FA Cup … Crewe U18s have Pharrell Williams on the bench tonight.
📰 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 📰
— Crewe Alexandra (@crewealexfc) November 28, 2022
Here's how the young reds line up this evening. 👇#CreweAlex pic.twitter.com/znpwIDVZHz
We should probably guess who will be drawing the balls … I will go with Kelly Smith and Matt Holland.
One person who will not be involved in the FA Cup third round is Mick Beale, who has left Championship QPR for Rangers.
There are a couple of spots undecided for the third round. A 97th-minute Myles Hippolyte equaliser at Charlton earned a replay for Stockport. They will play on 7 December at Edgeley Park – tickets for £10 for adults.
Dagenham & Redbridge and Gillingham will play for the other spot.
A bit of what happened this weekend in the FA Cup.
The names and numbers in the hat
1. Bournemouth
2. Arsenal
3. Aston Villa
4. Birmingham
5. Blackburn Rovers
6. Blackpool
7. Brentford
8. Brighton
9. Bristol City
10. Burnley
11. Cardiff City
12. Chelsea
13. Coventry City
14. Crystal Palace
15. Everton
16. Fulham
17. Huddersfield Town
18. Hull City
19. Leeds
20. Leicester
21. Liverpool
22. Luton Town
23. Manchester City
24. Manchester United
25. Middlesbrough
26. Millwall
27. Newcastle
28. Norwich City
29. Nottingham Forest
30. Preston North End
31. Queens Park Rangers
32. Reading
33. Rotherham United
34. Sheffield United
35. Southampton
36. Stoke City
37. Sunderland
38. Swansea City
39. Tottenham
40. Watford
41. West Bromwich Albion
42. West Ham
43. Wigan Athletic
44. Wolves
45. Grimsby Town
46. Wrexham
47. Accrington Stanley
48. Fleetwood Town
49. Ipswich Town
50. Barnsley
51. Forest Green Rovers
52. Portsmouth
53. Shrewsbury Town
54. Hartlepool United
55. Stevenage
56. Charlton Athletic or Stockport County
57. Boreham Wood
58. Dagenham & Redbridge or Gillingham
59. Oxford United
60. Sheffield Wednesday
61. Chesterfield
62. Burton Albion
63. Walsall
64. Derby County
Preamble
All this international football is distracting from what really matters: domestic cup competitions.
This evening we will find out about all the potential shocks and upsets that could be coming our way in early 2023. There are no real minnows in the third round this year, which is upsetting. We do, however, get to find out who Boreham Wood, Chesterfield and Wrexham will play. The latter could result in some high-octane links to the Welsh club’s owners.
Anyway, there are loads of numbers in the hat and the draw does not seem to be on the One Show, so things are looking up.
