The 3rd round of the 2022/23 FA Cup played out over the weekend. The majority of clashes took place across Saturday and Sunday, with the final tie seeing Arsenal and Oxford face off on Monday the 9th of January.
The 3rd round threw up a number of exciting ties and saw the Premier League’s elite, for the most part, thrive.
Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United are all through to the next round, whilst Arsenal’s place in the 4th round is expected to be confirmed tonight. Liverpool also have a replay with Wolves, which they are favourites to win.
The draw for the 4th round has since been made, which you can check out below:
The draw has been made for the #EmiratesFACup fourth round! 🤩
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 8, 2023
📰 Table Of Contents
Upset of the round: Wrexham 4-Coventry 3
One of the best things about the FA Cup is the upsets it throws up each year without fail.
Last year saw Middlesbrough see off Manchester United and Tottenham in back-to-back rounds before eventually being bested by Chelsea.
National League Wrexham knocked Championship side, Coventry, out of the FA Cup in a seven-goal thriller.
Wrexham are co-owned by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, with the former actually missing the conclusion of the tie after losing TV signal whilst in the US.
Reynolds, meanwhile, took to Twitter after his side’s shock victory: “I’m completely and totally speechless. What a club. What a town. What a win. @Wrexham_AFC forever,” he tweeted.
Performance of the round: Manchester City 4-Chelsea 0
A number of sides eked out impressive results over the weekend, including League Two Stevenage seeing off Aston Villa, and Brighton putting five past Middlesbrough.
However, given the level of their opponent and how dominant they were, Manchester City deserve the performance of the round title.
The Sky Blues faced off with Chelsea and whilst both sides made some changes, a fairly tight game was expected, especially after City had only beaten Graham Potter’s side 1-0 earlier in the week.
However, barring a slightly slow start for the first five-eight minutes, City were in cruise control against the Blues and ended up coming away with a 4-0 win. Chelsea, for their part, had just one shot on target all game.
Goal of the round: Riyad Mahrez vs Chelsea
Sticking with Manchester City, one of their players also scored the goal of the round.
Lewis Hall gave away a free-kick from around 25 yards out. Riyad Mahrez then stepped up to bend in a superb strike, which Kepa could do nothing about:
Magic from Mahrez 🪄@Mahrez22 with an unbelievable free-kick for @ManCity 😳#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/UlirKf9lnL
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 8, 2023
4th round tie to watch: Manchester City vs Arsenal or Oxford
Whilst Arsenal are not through at the time of writing, it seems likely they will see off Oxford on Monday evening.
That means the Gunners will have to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the 4th round.
Arsenal and City are the two best teams in England right now and it will be interesting to see them clash for the first time this season.
What the odds say
For all the latest FA Cup odds, check out this link:
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Manchester City are the current favourites to lift the trophy at 5/2, with Manchester United in second place at 9/2.
