The FA Cup trophy

United to learn FA Cup third-round opponents

Monday 06 December 2021 12:00

Manchester United will discover the identity of our Emirates FA Cup third-round opponents on Monday evening.

The draw for January's ties will be made at 19:00 GMT, just before non-league Boreham Wood and St Albans City go up against each other in the final second-round tie.

It will be televised live on ITV4 in the UK, as well as on the BBC Sport website and app. We'll also be providing live updates via ManUtd.com and the Official App, so you can discover who the Reds will face as soon as our ball is pulled out.

The 20 Premier League and 24 Championship sides who enter directly into this phase of this competition are alphabetically assigned ball numbers one to 44, with the no.26 the one to look out for from a United perspective.

United's bid for a first FA Cup since 2016 will get under way on the second weekend of January.

The remaining 20 balls are allotted to the qualifiers from previous rounds, with representation from Leagues One and Two, plus the National League.

There will also be sides from the sixth tier, with National League North (Kidderminster Harriers) and National League South (St Albans) involved, and both are on the list of potential new opposition for the Reds.

We've also never played Morecambe, AFC Wimbledon, Mansfield Town, Boreham Wood, Barrow or Harrogate Town competitively before and supporters of all of those sides will no doubt be hoping for a big day out at a Premier League ground.

United have a good recent record in the third round of the competition, progressing through each of our last seven ties at this stage without conceding a goal.

Indeed, only Swansea City in 2014 and Leeds United in 2010 have knocked the Reds out at the first possible opportunity since 1984, when Harry Redknapp's Bournemouth sprung a giant-killing by beating Ron Atkinson's holders.

Scroll down for the complete list of ball numbers for Monday's draw...

Highlights: United 1 Watford 0 Video

Highlights: United 1 Watford 0

Scott McTominay's header saw off Watford in the third round of this season's FA Cup...

1 AFC Bournemouth
2 Arsenal
3 Aston Villa
4 Barnsley
5 Birmingham City
6 Blackburn Rovers
7 Blackpool
8 Brentford
9 Brighton & Hove Albion
10 Bristol City
11 Burnley
12 Cardiff City
13 Chelsea
14 Coventry City
15 Crystal Palace
16 Derby County
17 Everton
18 Fulham
19 Huddersfield Town
20 Hull City
21 Leeds United
22 Leicester City
23 Liverpool
24 Luton Town
25 Manchester City
26 Manchester United
27 Middlesbrough
28 Millwall
29 Newcastle United
30 Norwich City
31 Nottingham Forest
32 Peterborough United

33 Preston North End
34 Queens Park Rangers
35 Reading
36 Sheffield United
37 Southampton
38 Stoke City
39 Swansea City
40 Tottenham Hotspur
41 Watford
42 West Bromwich Albion
43 West Ham United
44 Wolverhampton Wanderers
45 Yeovil Town
46 Bristol Rovers
47 Port Vale
48 Morecambe
49 Hartlepool United
50 AFC Wimbledon
51 Wigan Athletic
52 Leyton Orient
53 Cambridge United
54 Mansfield Town
55 Swindon Town
56 Rotherham United
57 Charlton Athletic
58 Boreham Wood/St Albans City
59 Kidderminster Harriers
60 Shrewsbury Town
61 Chesterfield
62 Plymouth Argyle
63 Ipswich Town/Barrow
64 Harrogate Town

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