FA Cup bracket: Third round schedule, game times, potential upsets in 2022

The Emirates FA Cup continues with the third round proper getting underway this weekend. It features all Premier League and EFL Championship teams as they enter the competition for the first time, with plenty of them facing off against lower division teams. The matches can be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States, with third round games kicking off on Friday, January 7th, and wrapping up on Monday the 10th.

The fourth round draw will take place the first weekend in February, when all the third round winners will find out who they’ll face off against in the fourth round.

There were several second round upsets, notably with League Two’s 10th-place Leyton Orient knocking out fourth-place Tranmere FC with a 4-0 score. Mansfield Town, also from League Two, eliminated League One’s Doncaster Rovers with a 3-2 score, while League Two’s 11th-place team Harrogate Town took out League One’s eighth-place team Portsmouth FC with a 2-1 final.

Leicester City will look to start the journey to a second-straight FA Cup Final win as they start their campaign against fellow EPL club Watford. Leicester beat Chelsea in last year’s final with a 1-0 score, thanks to a 63rd minute goal from midfielder Youri Tielemans. They’ll face off against Watford, who were promoted back to the Premier League this season after spending a year in the EFL Championship. Watford also made it to the 2019 FA Cup Final, where they were steamrolled by EPL giants Manchester City with a 6-0 score. They’ll look for a big win against Leicester, who got a 4-2 win over the Hornets in their last EPL meeting on November 28th. DraftKings Sportsbook has Leicester favored to win at -190 with Watford at +500.

If you’re looking for a potential long shot upset, look no further than extreme underdogs Swindon Town taking on EPL’s first-place team, Manchester City. They’ll host City at County Ground on January 7th with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. ET. Man City is heavily favored to win, but Swindon currently sits in fifth place in the EFL Championship, seeking Premier League promotion for the first time since the 1993-94 season. City is almost sure to bench a good amount of their starters, in hopes of not needing to bring them in against a team they’re expected to defeat handily. Swindon Town defeated Walsall in round two of the FA Cup in early December with a 2-1 score, courtesy of goals from Tyreece Simpson and Kaine Kessler Hayden. DraftKings Sportsbook has Man City favored at -1200 with Swindon Town’s odds to win at +2800.