A guide to the Third Round of this season’s FA Cup, where minnows look to cause cupsets against giants of Premier League and Championship.
This Third Round weekend is one of the marquee weekends in English Football as teams in the top two divisions finally enter the FA Cup, including Arsenal who are looking to defend their title.
How Many Teams Remain in Competition?
64 teams are left in this competition as the 20 winners from the Second Round are joined at this stage by Premier League and Championship clubs.
How Many Ties will be Played in Third Round?
32 ties are set to be played from 8-11 January 2021 but it is unclear if every match will be played owing to risk of weather related postponements, or positive Coronavirus tests could force clubs to postpone ties.
Should ties however not be rescheduled ahead of Fourth Round weekend covering 22-25 January, the team which causes the Third Round tie to be postponed will likely have to withdraw and forfeit their ties without a ball being kicked.
Matches however can only be postponed if less than 14 players are available for selection, although teams are expected to replace any absent senior players with youth players in order to make up the numbers to the required 14 names on the team sheet.
How to Watch FA Cup Matches?
With fixtures being held behind-closed-doors, every match is being broadcast exclusively live across BBC, BT and FA Player, with eight ties chosen for live television coverage and rest all available via streaming.
First up, here is a list of matches chosen for television coverage across this round on BBC or BT Sport with defending champions – Arsenal’s all Premier League clash against Newcastle amongst those receiving live TV broadcast.
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) | Channel |
| Friday 8 January | Aston Villa vs Liverpool | 7:45pm | BT Sport |
| Saturday 9 January | Chorley vs Derby | 12:15pm | BT Sport |
| Saturday 9 January | Arsenal vs Newcastle | 5:30pm | BBC |
| Saturday 9 January | Man Utd vs Watford | 8pm | BT Sport |
| Sunday 10 January | Crawley vs Leeds | 1:30pm | BBC |
| Sunday 10 January | Marine vs Tottenham | 5pm | BBC |
| Sunday 10 January | Newport vs Brighton | 7:45pm | BT Sport |
| Monday 11 January | Stockport vs West Ham | 8pm | BT Sport |
All remaining 24 matches will however be split across BBC, BT Sport and FA Player streaming services, so here is a list of matches selected between all those coverage providers.
BBC
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) |
| Saturday 9 January | QPR vs Fulham | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Stevenage vs Swansea | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Stoke vs Leicester | 3pm |
| Sunday 10 January | Chelsea vs Morecambe | 1:30pm |
| Sunday 10 January | Man City vs Birmingham | 1:30pm |
BT
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) |
| Friday 8 January | Wolves vs Crystal Palace | 7:45pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Boreham Wood vs Millwall | 12pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Everton vs Rotherham | 12pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Luton vs Reading | 12pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Norwich vs Coventry | 12pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Nottingham Forest vs Cardiff | 12pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Blackpool vs West Brom | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Bristol Rovers vs Sheffield Utd | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Exeter City vs Sheffield Wednesday | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Oldham vs Bournemouth | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Southampton vs Shrewsbury | 8pm |
FA Player
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) |
| Saturday 9 January | Blackburn vs Doncaster | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Burnley vs MK Dons | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Wycombe vs Preston | 3pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Brentford vs Middlesbrough | 6pm |
| Saturday 9 January | Huddersfield vs Plymouth | 6pm |
| Sunday 10 January | Barnsley vs Tranmere | 1:30pm |
| Sunday 10 January | Bristol City vs Portsmouth | 1:30pm |
| Sunday 10 January | Cheltenham vs Mansfield | 1:30pm |
When Will Fourth Round Draw Take Place?
The FA have announced that the Fourth Round Draw will be held on Monday 11 January ahead of Stockport County’s clash against West Ham, taking place at around 7:10pm GMT.
In a FA Cup first though, the Fourth Round draw will be followed by the Fifth Round draw just 15 minutes later, in an attempt to aid in fixture scheduling due to just two-and-a-half weeks separating both rounds.
Fourth Round will be held across 22-25 January 2021 with the Fifth Round provisionally taking place from 9-11 February 2021.
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