It’s always one of the highlights of the football calendar and the FA Cup third round weekend is now upon us as league action takes a back seat.
Boreham Wood, Chesterfield, Yeovil Town and Kidderminster Harriers will fly the flag for the non-League as the Premier League and Championship clubs enter the fray on the road to Wembley.
Millwall v Crystal Palace
Barnsley v Barrow
Kidderminster v Reading
Newcastle v Cambridge
Port Vale v Brentford
Chelsea v Chesterfield
Hull v Everton
Yeovil v Bournemouth
Birmingham v Plymouth
Where is the shock coming from in today’s FA Cup third-round matches?
Bristol City 0-0 Fulham
Burnley 1-0 Huddersfield
Coventry 1-0 Derby
Hartlepool 0-1 Blackpool
Jay Rodriguez in the Premier League this season:
◉ 13 games
◉ 0 goals
Jay Rodriguez in EFL and FA cup this season:
◉ 4 games
◉ 5 goals
At home in the cups. 
Benik Afobe has scored his first goal in the FA Cup since November 2014.
He scores against Crystal Palace for the second time in his career. 
Chelsea will be making their first foray into the FA Cup this season, with the Blues eager to go one step further after faltering in last season’s final against Leicester City. The west Londoners could not have asked for a better opening game in the 2021/22 campaign, and they will be buoyed after their 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
On the other hand, Chesterfield began their FA Cup campaign with a fourth qualifying round win over Curzon Ashton before beating Southend United and Salford City in the first two stages. The Spireites’ form has been strong this season, as they have beaten just all term and have not faced a defeat in several weeks.
It seems reasonable to expect wholesale changes at Chelsea with the likes of Harvey Vale, Xavier Mbuyamba and Lewis Hall in contention, but Thomas Tuchel insists he will play a strong side.
Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante are out after becoming the latest Blues players to test positive for Covid but Andreas Christensen should be available, while Timo Werner will likely start having been short on game time.
“Then we will find a strong line-up and show all the respect to the team and club of Chesterfield,” Tuchel said. “It is the FA Cup and if we want to go to the next round we have to win this match. Nothing else.”
Chelsea and Chesterfield have not met in the FA Cup since the 1949/50 season, with the Blues winning 3-0 in a fifth round replay after a 1-1 draw.
Chesterfield’s sole win over Chelsea came back in October 1905 in a league match, winning 1-0 – it was Chelsea’s first-ever home defeat in the Football League.
Chelsea, finalists in the FA Cup in four of the last five seasons, have lost just one of their previous 34 FA Cup matches against teams from outside the Premier League (W28 D5), a 4-2 home defeat to League One side Bradford City in January 2015.
In the Premier League era, there have been 47 instances of non-league teams facing Premier League opposition in the FA Cup, with two of those winning – Luton Town at Norwich City in January 2013 and Lincoln at Burnley in February 2017. Chelsea have only faced one non-league team in that time, winning 1-0 away at Scarborough in January 2004 under Claudio Ranieri.
Non-league Chesterfield have not faced a Premier League side in the FA Cup since the 1996/97 semi-final against Middlesbrough – after a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford, they lost 3-0 in the replay at Hillsborough. Away from home, the Spireites have never won against a top-flight team in the competition (P13 D3 L10).
Leicester 2-1 Watford
Newcastle 0-0 Cambridge
Port Vale 0-1 Brentford
West Brom 0-0 Brighton
47’: Callum Robinson
West Brom take the lead against Brighton.
Are the Seagulls about to be on the end of a cup upset? 
6 - Callum Robinson has scored six goals in his six starts in the FACup, now netting on his first appearance in the competition for each of Preston, Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion.
23’: Barnsley 1-0 Barrow
38’: Tom Beadling (sent off)
42’: Barnsley 2-0 Barrow
61’: Barnsley 2-1 Barrow
78’: Barnsley 2-2 Barrow
83’: Barnsley 3-2 Barrow
86’: Barnsley 3-3 Barrow
88’: Barnsley 4-3 Barrow
90’: Barnsley 4-4 Barrow
The. Best. Cup. Competition. In. The. World.
