THE FA Cup is the oldest and most renowned annual knockout competition in world football.
It gives lower League teams a chance to fight Premier League giants for a hallowed trophy and a large cash prize.
However, unlike in years gone by, this year’s FA Cup will see one massive rule change.
A surprising new six-year agreement between the Football Association (FA) and the Premier League, means that Cup replays will be SCRAPPED.
That does mean that for the first time third round losers will earn prize money.
Last season, the competition was won by Manchester United, as the Red Devils unexpectedly defeated rivals Manchester City 2-1.
The FA Cup third round takes place this weekend, with a hectic 32 matches across four intense days of football.
Starting with the clash between Sheffield United and Cardiff City on Thursday, the first of three matches that night.
There will be 19 matches on Saturday with non-stop football from 12pm until 8pm.
Sunday has a further seven matches including the biggest clash of the weekend, when Arsenal host Premier League rivals Manchester United.
The action concludes on Monday night with the tasty London derby between Millwall and Dagenham & Redbridge.
As mentioned above, for the first time ever, third round winners are entitled to prize money as potentially lucrative replays have been scrapped.
Third round losers will get now earn £25,000 while winners see £115,000 added to their coffers.
As the competition progresses, the financial stakes climb which encourages the teams to perform at their best ability in every round.
For winning the competition, one team will receive a whopping £2MILLION.
The runners up get £1m, with no change to the money available for winning games from the fourth round onwards.
For lower league clubs that go on a good run, the prize money can make or break their finances for the season.
AFTER drawing each other in the third round of the FA Cup, it will be the 17th time Arsenal and Manchester United have faced off in the competition.
They previously met in the 1997 and 2005 finals, both won by Arsenal.
The last match came in 2019, which was won by United.
Overall Arsenal have six wins while United have eight, while they share two draws.
United’s tally of 22 goals is also superior to Arsenal’s 20 in these games.
Wayne Rooney is the top scorer in the fixture, with three of his goals against the North London side coming in the FA Cup.
Bukayo Saka leads Arsenal’s tally at the moment with six goals, though these have all been in the Premier League.
The full breakdown is below:
Thursday, January 9
Friday, January 10
Saturday, January 11
12pm
12.15pm
3pm
5.45pm
6pm
Sunday, January 12
12pm
12.30pm
3pm
4.30pm
Monday, January 13
