It’s the third round of English football’s most prestigious cup competition and indeed the oldest cup competition in world, the FA Cup. It’s that time when the bigger boys in the Premier League are paired with the survivors from the earlier rounds to determine who will move on to the next stage.

I bring to you my picks and predictions for five of the best third round clashes. Let’s get right into it:

Sunday, January 4

Manchester City vs Sheffield Wednesday

Manchester City host Championship side Sheffield Wednesday for the second time this season after trashing them 7-0 in the Capital One Cup last September. The visitors capitulated in the second period after keeping Manuel Pellegrini’s men at bay for the entire duration of the first half. This will be another tough game for the Owls who are having a mixed season so far, but come into the match on the back of two consecutive wins and will hope to perhaps earn a replay from this match. Pellegrini will shuffle his side, but you can be sure there will be enough quality to see off the Owls and comfortably too.

Manchester City 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Yeovil Town vs Manchester United

Louis Van Gaal takes charge of his first ever FA Cup match against a Yeovil side that have lost their last three in a row in League One. The Dutchman will be keen to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing 4-0 loss to MK Dons that greeted his debut appearance in the Capital One Cup. With no European distractions and a fresher squad than most, Van Gaal can name a strong XI that should be able to beat the Glovers comfortably.

Yeovil Town 0-3 Manchester United

Arsenal vs Hull

The first of the two all Premier League encounters we shall be previewing occurs at the Emirates Stadium where stuttering Arsenal host Hull City in a repeat of last year’s FA Cup final. The Tigers will be looking to exert some revenge on the Gunners who came from two goals down to beat Hull at Wembley in that memorable encounter. Hull City come into this match on the back of a convincing win at home to Everton while Arsenal lost to Southampton. With the Gunners missing out on a number of key players, it’ll be interesting to see how Wenger sets up his side.

This match has got the makings of a possible upset. Arsenal are at home and should win but with all the injury problems and poor form of the North London side, Hull have got themselves a real chance here.

Arsenal 1-1 Hull

Monday, January 5

Wimbledon vs Liverpool

Real chance of an upset here. The morale at Liverpool Football Club took a hit after Steven Gerrard announced on Thursday that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season and that was after another atrocious performance at Anfield on New Year’s day where they let a two goal lead slip against Leicester City. It’ll be a great game to watch especially invoking memories of that FA Cup final in 1988 where the unfancied Dons shocked the Reds at Wembley. History may just repeat itself at the Kingsmeadow on Monday.

Wimbledon 1-0 Liverpool

Tuesday, January 6

Everton vs West Ham

Everton have been so abysmal of late and have lost the last four matches in a row. They need a morale boosting win and they need it fast with tougher matches on the horizon. A good place to start is Tuesday’s FA Cup tie at home to high-flying West Ham. The Hammers endured mixed results in the festive period and will want to kick-start their year with a win. Both sides are likely to shake things up a bit after a busy festive period and it’s unlikely that there will be much between them after 90 minutes.

Everton 1-1 West Ham