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One of the most storied competitions in English football is heating up as Premier League teams begin the FA Cup third round on Thursday. In the 144th edition of the tournament, Manchester United will look to repeat as champions, but with a tough first round match against Arsenal, that will be a challenge. Something different from previous editions is that repeats have disappeared. Previously, if a match ended in a draw, a rematch would take place at the opponent’s stadium and extra time and penalties would be taken if necessary. Now that the pressure on the playing calendar is increasing, they have been removed from the first round.
If a match ends in a draw, there are now two extra time periods, followed by a penalty shootout to determine who advances to the next round.
FA Cup schedule and results
All times Eastern and all games available on ESPN+
Thursday January 9
Sheffield United 0, Cardiff City 1
Fulham4, Watford1
Everton 2, Peterborough 0
Friday January 10
Wycombe vs Portsmouth, 2:45pm
Aston Villa vs. West Ham United, 3pm
Saturday January 11
Bristol City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers, 7pm
Middlesbrough vs Blackburn Rovers, 7pm
Birmingham City vs Lincoln City, 7am
Liverpool vs Accrington Stanley, 7.15am
Leicester City vs QPR, 9am
Nottingham Forest vs Luton Town, 10am
Brentford vs Plymouth Argyle, 10am
Chelsea vs Morecambe, 10am
Bournemouth vs West Brom, 10am
Norwich City vs Brighton, 10am
Preston North End vs Charlton, 10am
Reading vs Burnley, 10am
Exeter City vs Oxford United, 10am
Sunderland vs Stoke City, 10am
Leeds United vs Harrogate Town, 12:45
Manchester City vs Salford City, 12:45
Leyton Orient vs Derby County, 1pm
Coventry City vs. Sheffield Wednesday, 1pm
Mansfield Town vs Wigan Athletic, 1pm
Sunday January 12
Hull City vs Doncaster Rovers, 7pm
Tamworth vs Tottenham, 7.30am
Newcastle United vs Bromley, 10am
Ipswich Town vs Bristol Rovers, 10am
Arsenal vs Manchester United, 10am
Crystal Palace vs. Stockport untethered, 10am
Southampton vs Swansea, 11.30am
Monday January 13
Millwall v Dagenham & Redbridge, 2.30pm
A management debut
When West Ham United take the field against Aston Villa, things will be a little different, with Graham Potter taking charge after Julen Lopetegui was sacked. Normally Premier League teams would prefer to face each other later in the competition, but for Potter it is a great opportunity to test his players against the top flight with minimal consequences. Although the Hammers would love to win this match, losing in the cup tie is better than dropping more points in the Premier League. Facing a top team like Aston Villa, there is no better challenge to get things going.
Disturbed watch?
Looking for the biggest match of the round. it is likely that Arsenal will face Manchester United. Having already lost to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup and some of their poor finishing on a “tricky” ballthe Gunners will play with yet another unique ball when they face the Red Devils. Miter has created a ball to celebrate United winning the last edition of the tournament, which will be used for this match. With United needing a win, they will hope Arsenal’s finishing is not up to the mark to cause a disappointment.
Time to get back on track
With Liverpool and Chelsea both experiencing minor hiccups in their impressive seasons. But in the FA Cup they face Accrington Stanley and Morecambe respectively. There are games where they will likely rotate and play younger players in the squad, but they are still moments that can help build momentum. Liverpool have now failed to take maximum points in two consecutive games, which wouldn’t be a crisis for most teams, but when the Reds had gone 24 games without losing, the wins were expected. Things are a bit more worrying for Chelsea, having failed to win four in a row and losing two of them. Being able to change that form will be crucial to staying in the title race.