Hey, did you know there was an FA Cup draw today? I sure didn’t! But it’s true — the draw for the FA Cup third round was held today, and Tottenham Hotspur drew a toughie. Spurs were drawn home to Aston Villa, one of the most difficult matchups in the draw. The match will take place the weekend of January 10, 2026.
If you’re going to win the FA Cup you have to play and beat a lot of tough teams, but this is rough draw, especially in the third round. It’s almost more likely you’ll draw a lower-league team than not, so hooking a whale like Villa feels pretty unlucky. Villa started the season winless in their first five league matches but have rocketed up the table since under Unai Emery; they’re currently third after beating Arsenal at home this past weekend.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it’s the biggest match of the round. Everton also drew home to Sunderland, while Newcastle are home to Bournemouth and United are home to Brighton in the only matchups featuring Premier League opponents. Meanwhile, Arsenal drew away to Portsmouth, and Ryan Mason’s West Brom are away at Swansea City.
For those of you curious about these sorts of things, here’s the full draw.
Wolves vs. Shrewsbury
Doncaster Rovers vs. Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Aston Villa
Port Vale vs. Fleetwood Town
Preston vs. Wigan
Ipswich Town vs. Blackpool
Wrexham vs. Nottingham Forest
Charlton vs. Chelsea
Manchester City vs. Exeter
West Ham vs. QPR
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Brentford
Fulham vs. Middlesbrough
Everton vs. Sunderland
Liverpool vs. Barnsley
Burnley vs. Millwall
Norwich vs. Walsall
Portsmouth vs. Arsenal
Derby vs. Leeds
Swansea vs. West Bromwich Albion
Salford vs. Swindon Town
Boreham Wood vs. Brackley/Burton
Grimsby vs. Weston-Super-Mare
Hull City vs. Blackburn
Newcastle vs. Bournemouth
MK Dons vs. Oxford
Cheltenham vs. Leicester
Cambridge vs. Birmingham
Bristol City vs. Watford
Stoke vs. Coventry City
Macclesfield vs. Crystal Palace
Manchester United vs. Brighton