One of the most magical weekends in world football is upon us, as the English Premier League big boys join in the knockout action in the third round of the FA Cup.
A madcap schedule spread between Thursday and Monday sees the final 64 competing teams from up and down the league pyramid fighting it out in the race to the famous Wembley Stadium final.
It’s a heavy duty clash that really catches the eye on Sunday when Arsenal host Manchester United, with both former Cup winners cursing the luck of the draw ahead of their Emirates Stadium tie.
The Gunners’ North London rivals Tottenham couldn’t have picked a more contrasting fixture.
Spurs head to the West Midlands to take on Tamworth of the National League, with an artificial pitch and a long throw specialist just to add to the romance.
There are plenty more lopsided contests on an action-packed Saturday, as EPL leaders Liverpool welcome League Two strugglers Accrington to Anfield.
It’s a similar affair at Stamford Bridge, with Morecambe another cash-strapped fourth tier club counting their blessings having bagged a trip to the capital to play Chelsea.
A weird sort of local derby grabs the headlines in Manchester, meanwhile, with Pep Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions City hosting Salford of League Two, with the visitors part-owned by arch-rivals United’s famous ‘Class of ’92’.
An all-EPL contest on Friday night is a riot of claret and blue, with Aston Villa playing host to West Ham, who will welcome the break from their league toil.
Two more Premier League teams to come out of the third round draw with home ties against lower league opposition are Newcastle and Crystal Palace.
The Toon Army are at St James’ Park to welcome Bromley, who were promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history last season.
Palace, meanwhile, will play League One play-off chasers Stockport at Selhurst Park.
Rock bottom of the EPL Southampton will approach their contest against Swansea with a good deal of trepidation later on Sunday afternoon, with the second tier Swans heading to St Mary’s Stadium to play a team whose confidence is shot to pieces.
The favourable draws just keep coming for the top flight contingent on Sunday, as battling Ipswich take on the challenge of Bristol Rovers at Portman Road.
A Yorkshire derby kicks off Sunday’s seven FA Cup ties at lunchtime, with Hull going up against Doncaster.
The Cup derby action even extends to Monday night under the lights at The Den, when Millwall tackle National League opposition in the form of Dagenham.
It all gets underway on Thursday night with a trio of FA Cup fixtures involving another Premier League pair enjoying good home ties.
Everton play Peterborough at Goodison Park, in a contest that could amazingly pit the Toffees’ former England star and veteran winger Ashley Young against his own son in the Posh ranks.
Then there’s Fulham, going well in the league under popular boss Marco Silva, who face Championship Watford at Craven Cottage.
Sheffield United put aside their bid for promotion back to the EPL for the night at Bramall Lane, with second tier strugglers Cardiff the visitors to South Yorkshire.
Such is the luck of the draw, there are yet another six Premier League versus Championship ties taking place as part of a rammed Saturday programme.
Wolves go first in a lunchtime game when they make a tricky trip to Bristol City, while Leicester are desperate to park their horrendous EPL form with a King Power Stadium clash against QPR.
Promotion hopefuls West Brom will have to be at their best on the south coast when they tackle high-flying Bournemouth.
So will Plymouth, who recently sacked England legend Wayne Rooney as coach and now head up from the south west to London to go up against Brentford.
How things have changed in a year for Nottingham Forest and Luton, who meet with the City Ground hosts pushing for Champions League qualification and the visiting Hatters staring down the barrel of successive relegations.
Brighton are also enduring a dismal run in the top flight and are grateful to put that to one side as they head to Carrow Road to play Norwich.
Leeds are also on the charge back to the Premier League under former canaries boss Daniel Farke, with their opening FA Cup task a quaint Elland Road tie against local League Two minnows Harrogate.
A trio of all-Championship clashes also throws up plenty of intrigue, not least the noon showdown between promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and Blackburn at the Riverside Stadium.
Coventry will take the fight to Sheffield Wednesday in one of a clutch of evening kick offs, following on from the Stadium of Light showdown between Sunderland and Stoke.
League One’s big spenders Birmingham have a home tie against divisional rivals and former shock quarter-finalists Lincoln as their reward for reaching the third round.
Burnley might not have it all their own way despite their fine Championship form, meanwhile, when they go to a Reading side defying their financial perma-crisis in pushing for the League One play-offs.
Derby face a similar mission as they drop down a division in heading to Brisbane Road, with odds-defying third tier club Leyton Orient lying in wait and fancying their chances of an upset.
It’s not such a different set up for Preston and Charlton, who square off at Deepdale with the Championship home side this time the ones setting out to avoid a banana skin.
League One Exeter have enjoyed a solid FA Cup pedigree over the years and they will look forward to taking a swing at Oxford, who are limping along in the second tier.
Mansfield and Wigan will also scrap it out at Field Mill for a coveted place in Round Four.
And we wrap up a marathon set of 32 FA Cup ties with the Friday night match at Adams Park, between League One pair Wycombe and Portsmouth.
Wycombe Wanderers v Portsmouth
| Result prediction | Wycombe Wanderers to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Wycombe Wanderers / Wycombe Wanderers to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | L. Leahy(Wycombe Wanderers) C. Bishop(Portsmouth) |
Aston Villa v West Ham United
| Result prediction | West Ham United to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | West Ham United / West Ham United to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Bristol City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
| Result prediction | Wolverhampton Wanderers to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Wolverhampton Wanderers to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Matheus Cunha(Wolverhampton Wanderers) |
Middlesbrough v Blackburn Rovers
| Result prediction | Blackburn Rovers to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Blackburn Rovers / Blackburn Rovers to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Birmingham City v Lincoln City
| Result prediction | Lincoln City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Birmingham City / Lincoln City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Liverpool v Accrington Stanley
| Result prediction | Liverpool to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Liverpool / Liverpool to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | T. Walton(Accrington Stanley) |
Leicester City v Queens Park Rangers
| Result prediction | Leicester City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Leicester City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Reading v Burnley
| Result prediction | Reading to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Reading / Reading to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Norwich City v Brighton & Hove Albion
| Result prediction | Brighton & Hove Albion to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Brighton & Hove Albion to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | João Pedro(Brighton & Hove Albion) |
Preston North End v Charlton Athletic
| Result prediction | Charlton Athletic to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Charlton Athletic / Charlton Athletic to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Chelsea v Morecambe
| Result prediction | Chelsea to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Chelsea / Chelsea to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
AFC Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Sunderland v Stoke City
| Result prediction | Stoke City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Stoke City / Stoke City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Exeter City v Oxford United
| Result prediction | Exeter City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Exeter City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | J. Magennis(Exeter City) |
Brentford v Plymouth Argyle
| Result prediction | Brentford to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Brentford to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | B. Mbeumo(Brentford) |
Nottingham Forest v Luton Town
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Manchester City v Salford City
| Result prediction | Manchester City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Manchester City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | Bernardo Silva(Manchester City) E. Haaland(Manchester City) |
Leeds United v Harrogate Town
| Result prediction | Leeds United to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Leeds United to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Leyton Orient v Derby County
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Mansfield Town v Wigan Athletic
| Result prediction | Mansfield Town to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Mansfield Town / Mansfield Town to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Coventry City v Sheffield Wednesday
| Result prediction | Coventry City to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Coventry City / Coventry City to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | H. Wright(Coventry City) E. Simms(Coventry City) |
Hull City v Doncaster Rovers
| Result prediction | Doncaster Rovers to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Hull City / Doncaster Rovers to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Tamworth v Tottenham Hotspur
| Result prediction | Tamworth to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Tamworth / Tamworth to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Arsenal v Manchester United
| Result prediction | Manchester United to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Manchester United / Manchester United to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Newcastle United v Bromley
| Result prediction | draw |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Bromley / draw |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | C. Whitely(Bromley) |
Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers
| Result prediction | Ipswich Town to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Ipswich Town to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Crystal Palace v Stockport County
| Result prediction | Stockport County to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Stockport County / Stockport County to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | K. Wootton(Stockport County) |
Southampton v Swansea City
| Result prediction | Southampton to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Southampton to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Millwall v Dagenham & Redbridge
| Result prediction | Dagenham & Redbridge to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Dagenham & Redbridge to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |