The FA Cup proper starts this weekend, and though we’ll have to wait a few more months until the big Premier League sides start to play in it, there are some fascinating encounters to look forward to among lower-division clubs this weekend, and we can expect a couple of early shocks, as there always are.
Here’s what you need to know before it starts on Friday night.
Best Bet: Back Aston Villa to Win the FA Cup
It’s no wonder that last week ex-Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher called Villa’s Unai Emery the best manager in the Premier League.
Though they’re only 10th in the league after a slow start, they’ve been impressive in the Champions League, beating Club Brugge 3-2, Fenerbahce 6-0 and Viking 3-1 before an understandable 3-0 loss to Barcelona on Tuesday night.
They have a good squad this year despite losing a couple of important players and don’t have the distraction of the EFL Cup as they’re no longer in it. Above all, they have in Emery a man who loves cup competitions, having won the Europa League on five occasions - three with Sevilla, one with Villarreal and then again last year with Villa - to go with six French cups when he was at PSG.
So this could be their year to come close at big odds or even win it.
The Beloved FA Cup
The FA Cup is the oldest domestic football competition in the world, first played in 1855, 155 years ago, and remains to this day one of the best-loved, most-watched and most popular trophies not just in the eyes of English football fans but the world over.
Though the likes of the Premier League and Champions League attract a bit more media interest than this one and are far bigger money-spinning competitions than the FA Cup, this is a competition that the vast majority of teams take extremely seriously.
That’s why they often field their best possible teams to try and get as far as possible in it, providing huge anticipation in the eyes of the fans who love a ‘good Cup run’, especially when it involves knocking out a fierce rival or a side playing in a league above them and sometimes several leagues above them!
And big upsets, sometimes known as giant killings or David v Goliath matches where the underdog prevails, are a huge part of it.
And yes, that was in the EFL Cup, not this one, but a couple of weeks ago Fleetwood Town knocked out defending Premier League champions Arsenal, no less, on penalties, so huge upsets really do happen in English Cup matches.
Action This Weekend
The first round proper takes place over the weekend of 6–8 November, with 39 of the 40 ties scheduled across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The remaining match, Plymouth Parkway v Berkhamsted, takes place on Monday 9 November.
This is the stage of the competition where clubs from League One and League Two enter the tournament, joining the non-league sides that have progressed through the qualifying rounds.
In addition to the prestige and excitement that comes with progressing in the tournament, there’s also priceless prize money up for grabs.
In this round, winning clubs receive £47,750 in prize money, while losing sides collect £15,800. That may seem like small fry for the biggest Premier League sides such as Arsenal and Manchester City, who receive millions in prize money, TV rights and player sales, but for sides lower down the football pyramid, making it through two or three rounds can provide them with a valuable injection of cash, sometimes as much as their whole annual budget.
There is also the opportunity to reach the second round, which takes place on 5 December.
One of the quirks of the FA Cup is that smaller teams love being drawn against the very best even if it means they’re given little or no chance of progressing. That’s because it gives them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play the world’s best and, if drawn away, a rare opportunity to play at, say, Old Trafford, Anfield or the Etihad Stadium in front of ten times bigger crowds than they’re used to. In the FA Cup, teams share gate receipts so a sold-out Old Trafford, for example, is another great opportunity to pick up some priceless funds.
Look Out for These Matches
On Friday night, you can look forward to Oxford City v Leicester City, kicking off at 7.45 pm.
Remember that not only did Leicester win the Premier League a few years back; they also won the FA Cup in 2021, so you can see why they’re one of the biggest teams playing at this stage of the competition despite the fact they’ve had an indifferent start to the season in League One, currently sitting in 10th.
So pedigree aside, this could provide a chance for an early upset against a side that looks a surprisingly big price at 8.0 given they’re going well in the Conference North, in second place. The Leicester win is 1.3, and Oxford to win or draw is 3.5.
Saturday is the busiest day for FA Cup action this weekend, with 33 fixtures scheduled, predominantly kicking off at 3 pm.
There are several potentially entertaining encounters here. Bradford City against Marine is an interesting example of a Football League club facing non-league opposition, exactly the sort of potential for a giant-killing as mentioned earlier; Bradford are just 1.22 to win, with the draw 5.5 and an unlikely win for Marine priced up at 10.0.
Then there’s Boreham Wood against Wigan Athletic, with the hosts favourites at 1.91 in that one and Wigan at 3.3. Goals are expected in this one, with over 2.5 goals at 1.45 and both teams to score at 1.44.
Altrincham against Notts County is another attractive fixture, with the latter having a proud history in English football and favourites here at 1.73 to win the game in 90 minutes.
The evening match between Peterborough United and Reading also promises to be competitive, with both clubs having plenty of experience in the Football League. It’s one of the tightest matches in terms of the odds, with Peterborough 2.75, Reading 2.3 and the draw 3.6.
The Biggest Favourites
We still have to wait a while for the Premier League sides to enter the competition. All 20 Premier League clubs enter the FA Cup at the Third Round Proper, alongside the Championship clubs.
For this edition, the Third Round is scheduled for 9–10 January 2027. This is when the top-flight teams join the competition, with the possibility of being drawn against lower-league or non-league opposition. Or of course, against other Premier League teams.
It’s the usual suspects at the top of the betting, with Arsenal 5.0, defending champions Manchester City 6.0, followed by Liverpool (8.0), Manchester United (9.0), Chelsea (10.0), with Aston Villa and Tottenham at 15.0.
