Normally a post like this would wait until tomorrow, but the asinine decision to kick off the FA Cup third round proper for this season on a Thursday--a move driven strictly by television rights, rather than by the wishes of supporters and other fans--means I have to post the first batch of picks today. It speaks to the "money first, football nowhere" direction of the sport that FA Cup Factfile's Phil Annets laments (and in whose lamentation I join). He has devoted his precious time to collecting stats concerning the Cup, and this treasure-trove of information forms the basis of a blog and X (ex-Twitter) feed that I have drawn upon when making my picks for the FA Cup proper rounds. I suggest you get in touch with him whenever you get the chance if you want to know about the real stories of the Cup.
Anyway, I picked fifteen of twenty ties correctly in the second round proper. Not bad, considering I had a slow start to the round. Overall, I've picked 39/60 winners, almost a two-thirds success rate! But now comes the big third round, where the Premier League and Championship clubs enter the fray. Between the top two divisions, every Cup since 1902 has been won by such clubs. Let's see if my picks can hold up against reality as it unfolds...
Thursday:
Everton 3-2 Crystal Palace (actual 1-0 replay; 25pt)
Friday:
Brentford 4-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers (actual 2-3/3-4 aggregate)
Fulham 2-1 Rotherham United (actual 1-0; 25pt)
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Burnley (actual 1-0; 25pt)
Saturday:
AFC Wimbledon 2-3 Ipswich Town (actual 1-3; 35pt)
Millwall 3-3 Leicester City (Leicester City on pens) (actual 2-3; 35pt)
Coventry City 2-1 Oxford United (actual 6-2; 25pt)
Maidstone United 3-1 Stevenage (actual 1-0; 25pt)
Sunderland 1-3 Newcastle United (actual 0-3; 35pt)
Stoke City 1-2 Brighton and Hove Albion (actual 2-4; 25pt)
Norwich City 2-3 Bristol Rovers (actual 4-2)
Southampton 2-1 Walsall (actual 4-0; 25pt)
Watford 4-1 Chesterfield (actual 2-1; 30pt)
Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Cambridge United (actual 5-2; 25pt)
Gillingham 2-1 Sheffield United (actual 0-4)
Queens Park Rangers 0-3 AFC Bournemouth (actual 2-3; 35pt)
Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Sutton United (actual 3-1; 30pt)
Newport County 2-3 Eastleigh (actual 3-1/4-2 aggregate)
Hull City 1-4 Birmingham City (actual 1-2/2-3 aggregate; 25pt)
Middlesbrough 2-1 Aston Villa (actual 0-1; 5pt)
Sheffield Wednesday 4-3 Cardiff City (actual 4-0; 37.5pt)
Swansea City 2-1 Morecambe (actual 2-0; 32.5pt)
Chelsea 2-1 Preston North End (actual 4-0; 25pt)
Sunday:
Luton Town 2-1 Bolton Wanderers (actual score, both in replay and on aggregate; 50pt)
Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Wrexham (actual 0-1; 25pt)
West Ham United 3-1 Bristol City (actual 0-1/1-2 on aggregate)
West Bromwich Albion 3-1 Aldershot Town (actual 4-1; 30pt)
Peterborough United 3-2 Leeds United (actual 0-3)
Nottingham Forest 3-2 Blackpool (actual 3-2/5-4; 25pt)
Manchester City 3-1 Huddersfield Town (actual 5-0; 25pt)
Arsenal 5-6 Liverpool (actual 0-2; 25pt)
Monday:
Wigan Athletic 2-7 Manchester United (actual 0-2; 25pt)
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