Given the frequency of league matches at the moment you would be forgiven for forgetting that there was a full fixture list of FA Cup ties this weekend that will lead this evening to the draw for the third round of the competition.
And with just one tie to be completed – this evening’s game between Canvey Island and Boreham Wood – all teams in the top two tiers of English football will find out their fate when the draw is made at 7.10pm this evening.
The winner’s of this evening’s game will mean that there will be four non-league clubs in the draw for the next stage of the cup with each of them having battled through many ties just to get this far. They will join Stockport County, Chorley and Marine, who are the lowest ranked team left in the cup and at this stage for only the second time in their history.
The FA Cup is taking on a very different look this season with no replays being played and games decided by extra time, and where necessary, penalties to ensure the competition can fit into the truncated season caused by the pandemic.
The winners at the Third Round stage will receive £82,000 each and the Swans will again find themselves as ball number 38.
Ties will be played the weekend of 9-10 January.
The draw numbers
1 AFC Bournemouth
2 Arsenal
3 Aston Villa
4 Barnsley
5 Birmingham City
6 Blackburn Rovers
7 Brentford
8 Brighton & Hove Albion
9 Bristol City
10 Burnley
11 Cardiff City
12 Chelsea
13 Coventry City
14 Crystal Palace
15 Derby County
16 Everton
17 Fulham
18 Huddersfield Town
19 Leeds United
20 Leicester City
21 Liverpool
22 Luton Town
23 Manchester City
24 Manchester United
25 Middlesbrough
26 Millwall
27 Newcastle United
28 Norwich City
29 Nottingham Forest
30 Preston North End
31 Queens Park Rangers
32 Reading
33 Rotherham United
34 Sheffield United
35 Sheffield Wednesday
36 Southampton
37 Stoke City
38 Swansea City
39 Tottenham Hotspur
40 Watford
41 West Bromwich Albion
42 West Ham United
43 Wolverhampton Wanderers
44 Wycombe Wanderers
45 Stevenage
46 Blackpool
47 Tranmere Rovers
48 Crawley Town
49 Stockport County
50 Plymouth Argyle
51 Portsmouth
52 Cheltenham Town
53 Chorley
54 Morecambe
55 Shrewsbury Town
56 Mansfield Town
57 Newport County
58 Marine
59 Exeter City
60 Canvey Island or Boreham Wood
61 Doncaster Rovers
62 Milton Keynes Dons
63 Bristol Rovers
64 Oldham Athletic