FA Cup 3rd Round headlines
There are three headlines that stand out ahead of the 32 matches in the FA Cup 3rd Round, ranging from online coaching and the use of VAR in select matches.
Pep will have a say in Man City’s game against Swindon despite his absence
Pep Guardiola is out for Manchester City’s game against Swindon Town on Friday, Jan. 7, at 3 p.m. ET. The Spaniard and his assistant Juanma Lillo both tested positive for Covid-19, meaning that former academy coach Rodolfo Borrel will take charge of the Citizens on Friday. However, Guardiola will have a say during the game as he will be “connected” with Borrel throughout the game.
Burnley’s head coach Sean Dyche is another manager that will miss the upcoming FA Cup fixture. But there is no word whether he will connect with assistant Ian Woan during their match against Huddersfield on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Premier League teams told they must play despite Covid 19 outbreaks
The Football Association made it clear to Premier League clubs that they must play their FA Cup third round matches regardless of their Covid-19 situations. Liverpool seems to be in the direst situation out of the 20 Premier league sides in the competition.
The Reds’ Carabao Cup semi-final first leg tie against Arsenal scheduled for Thursday was postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak in Liverpool’s squad. However, the FA told teams to use academy players to make up for the first-team absences. Therefore, Liverpool’s under 18 FA Youth Cup match against Burnley scheduled for Friday was postponed so that some of the players join the senior team in their game against Shrewsbury on Sunday, Jan. 9.
VAR in nine of the 32 third round FA Cup ties
The Football Association will use VAR at nine of 32 FA Cup third-round fixtures. The competition is not licensed to use VAR across all its fixtures, meaning that only matches played at Premier League stadiums will have video refereeing. This means that West Brom’s game against Brighton on Saturday will not use VAR despite the technology being installed at the Hawthorns.
FA Cup 3rd Round top games to watch
As seen in the title of the article, a clash between Manchester United and Aston Villa headlines the FA Cup Round-of-32. Both Premier League sides look to better their form in the second half of the season after poor first halves. The game will close the third round of play on Monday, Jan. 10, at 2:55 p.m. ET.
The two clubs recycled managers at the end of 2021, with Ralf Rangnick replacing former Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Aston Villa parting ways with Dean Smith to bring on ex-Rangers boss Steven Gerrard aboard. The two coaches are still in the process of getting their squads to their full potential.
Both sides are currently dealing with a slew of absences ahead of the clash on Saturday. Manchester United’s injury list has Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelof missing the game due to injury and Eric Baily on international duty as he will be representing Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations. As for Aston Villa, Trezeguet and Bertrand Traore are on international duty ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, and Ollie Watkins, Marvelous Nakamba and Leon Bailey are out with injuries.
Two other must-watch games are Leicester City-Watford and West Ham United-Leeds United. These are the only other two third round fixtures that involve two Premier League sides.
