FA Cup fixtures today – your guide to Saturday’s games

The FA Cup third round got underway on Thursday night, but the bulk of the action comes this Saturday in England’s oldest cup competition.

It continues to dazzle and amaze with annual giant-killings and sensational underdog tales, but the third round is where the FA Cup really starts to get interesting.

While there aren’t a plethora of staggering ties this year, there are still some mouth-watering match-ups. One of the standout fixtures of the third round comes this Saturday in the first Tyne-Wear derby since 2016.

Here is your guide to Saturday’s televised FA Cup clashes in the United Kingdom.

For the first time in almost eight years, fierce foes Sunderland and Newcastle United will go head-to-head. With the Black Cats having dropped into the Championship – and League One until last season – these two rivals haven’t had many opportunities to lock horns in recent times.

This meeting couldn’t have come at a much better time for Sunderland either, with Michael Beale’s side sat sixth in the second division having won two of their four matches since his appointment. While Tony Mowbray’s sacking in early December was a shock, the Black Cats will be hopeful of springing a surprise at the Stadium of Light.

But perhaps more importantly, Newcastle are in woeful form and have a terrible FA Cup record. The Magpies have lost seven of their last eight games in all competitions and have only made it past the fourth round of the competition once since the 2006/07 campaign. The Toon Army have also failed to beat Sunderland since 2011, without victory in their last nine against their local rivals.

Middlesbrough have already embraced one cup competition this season, making it all the way to the Carabao Cup semi-finals. They will face Chelsea over two legs in the final four, but arguably face a sterner test against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Michael Carrick’s side are firmly mid-table in the Championship in 12th and will not be relishing a visit from second-placed Premier League side Villa. Unai Emery’s men are flying in the top flight and should stroll to victory at the Riverside Stadium.

A fixture that throws up some nice noughties nostalgia, Boro and Villa most recently clashed in the Championship back in 2019, Saturday’s hosts having failed to win any of their last five meetings with the Midlands club.

Chelsea‘s 2023/24 Premier League campaign has not gone to plan so far, the Blues currently sat in tenth place at the season’s halfway point. However, they have found some solace in the Carabao Cup, making it to the semi-finals.

Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to achieve similar in the FA Cup, a competition Chelsea have finished runners-up in during three of the last five seasons. A fairly straightforward opening clash with Preston should help them into the fourth round, although it hasn’t been sensible to bet on the Blues this season.

The Lilywhites find themselves 14th in the Championship after a mediocre season, losing four of their last five matches. Preston have only faced Chelsea twice in the 21st century, both FA Cup meetings that they lost – most recently in 2010.

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