The English FA Cup may have lost some of its glitter over the years but the third round is still one of the more eagerly anticipated weekends in English football for the smaller clubs.
It is the time the heavyweights of the Premier League join the competition and there is always an outside chance that one of the “big boys” might come a cropper against lesser opponents.
There cannot be a better time to take on a top team than a cold, wet and windy January afternoon.
Because of the fixture backlog prompted by Covid, replays have been scrapped for the third and fourth rounds, so we could be in for some tense penalty shoot-outs this weekend which could trigger upsets.
One fixture has already been played with League Two’s Swindon Town taking on runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City at the County Ground last night.
There are…
