Of course, “Third” is a bit of a misnomer, as we’ll explain. You see, the competition to qualify for the FA Cup started back on August 3rd with 442 teams in something called the “Extra

Pep Guardiola's once formidable outfit are no longer striking fear into their opponents but they do at least go into the third round weekend on the back of consecutive victories. They already trail Liverpool by 12 points in the English's top-flight and if the Reds win their game in-hand that becomes 15.

Arsenal will host Manchester United in a tasty all-Premier League fixture, meanwhile, with one of the FA Cup’s two most successful clubs guaranteed to fall at this stage. The third round of the FA Cup will take place between Thursday 9 January and Monday 13 January.

The FA Cup third round traditionally takes place in January and that stage of the competition sees the introduction of Premier League and Championship teams. Barring a huge surprise not seen since non-league Tottenham Hotspur won the cup in 1901,