By Alan Duffy
Thedraw for the third round of the FA Cup was made on Sunday afternoon, with the occasion throwing out a few tasty looking ties, none more so than the meeting of City and United.
Sir Alex Ferguson will no doubt have wanted a rather easier draw, although the chance to get some revenge for the 6-1 mauling at Old Trafford might well give United an extra incentive in this game. One imagines the likes of Darron Gibson and Federico Macheda won’t be getting a start in this particular cup game.
Arsenal will face Leeds (again!) at the Emirates while Chelsea face Portsmouth. Tottenham will host Cheltenham Town and Liverpool will play either Southend or Oldham at Anfield.
Other interesting match-ups include Fulham v Charlton, Newcastle v Blackburn, Forest v Leicester and Birmingham v Wolves.
The ties will be played on the 7th and 8th of January.
Here’s the draw in full –
Middlesbrough v Shrewsbury
Nottingham Forest v Leicester City
Manchester City v Manchester United
Dagenham & Redbridge/Walsall v Millwall
Crawley v Bristol City
Doncaster v Sutton Utd/Notts County
Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa
Tottenham v Cheltenham Town
Sheffield Wednesday v West Ham
Milton Keynes Dons v QPR
Hull City v Ipswich Town
Coventry v Southampton
Brighton v Wrexham
Fulham v Charlton Athletic
Birmingham v Wolves
Norwich v Burnley
Arsenal v Leeds United
Derby v Crystal Palace
Fleetwood/Yeovil v Blackpool
Swindon v Wigan
Barnsley v Swansea
Chelmsford/Macclesfield v Bolton
Newcastle v Blackburn
Everton v Tamworth
Sheffield United v Salisbury City/Grimsby
Liverpool v Southend/Oldham
Gillingham v Stoke
Chelsea v Portsmouth
Watford v Bradford
Peterborough v Sunderland
West Brom v Cardiff
Reading v Stevenage