The second weekend of January means only one thing; the FA Cup Third Round!
A real British sporting tradition, this part of the season is always packed full of exciting matches and the potential for unexpected upsets.
Will there be any famous giant killings this year? Or will the Premier League boys flex their footballing muscles?
We can only watch on and find out, with games in the round kicking off tomorrow evening and concluding on Monday night.
After taking a look at all 32 ties, as well as the latest FA Cup odds on offer, here are our sports betting picks for the 2025-26 Third Round.
And this stage of the competition is ideal for a combo bet, perfectly complimenting our Acca Boost feature – which can increase your potential winnings by up to 50%!
*All odds are subject to change
Newcastle vs Bournemouth: Anytime goalscorer – Yoane Wissa @ 2.40
After an energy-sapping 4-3 victory over Leeds, Eddie Howe is bound to ring the changes for this fixture. Wissa is surely in line to return to the Newcastle XI, and he will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing Bournemouth’s leaky defence – which has shipped 16 goals in the previous six top-flight fixtures. Wissa also has four goals in his six matches against Bournemouth, three of them coming last season in a Brentford shirt.
Manchester City to score over 3.5 goals vs Exeter City @ 1.71
Pep Guardiola must be seething with his squad following three consecutive Premier League draws. The City boss will be demanding an emphatic response here, and on paper, this looks the most one-sided tie of the Third Round. Exeter are 14th in League One with just nine wins from 24 matches, scoring only 25 goals along the way. As such, we really fancy City to put on a show at the Etihad, and this market offers far better odds than Match Result, where the hosts are priced as low as 1.05.
Fulham to beat Middlesbrough @ 1.59
Fulham are one of the form teams in the Premier League. Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Chelsea took the Cottagers up to ninth in the table after previously flirting with the relegation zone. Harry Wilson was also on target again, strengthening his claim as one of the top flight’s silkiest operators. As for Boro, while they are second in the Championship, Kim Hellberg’s team boast just one win in the last five, losing each of the last two on the road vs Bristol City (2-0) and Derby (1-0). So even if Marco Silva rotates his XI, Fulham should have more than enough to reach the Fourth Round.
Tottenham vs Aston Villa: Anytime goalscorer – Morgan Rogers @ 3.25
A real glamour all-Premier League tie here. Given Spurs’ woeful home record, and their recent 3-2 loss at Bournemouth, Villa will arrive in North London as favourites. Unai Emery’s men won 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier in the season, a match in which Rogers scored a sensational long-range goal. The England international has struck twice against Spurs in just three career appearances, and with Emery rarely affording him a rest, we are backing him to inflict more misery on Thomas Frank’s men. Especially with the fantastic price on offer!
Manchester United vs Brighton: Both teams to score – Yes @ 1.54
Another clash between two top-flight teams, one which has the potential for goals. United seem immune to keeping clean sheets of late, drawing 2-2 at Burnley in the first match of the post-Ruben Amorim era. Brighton scored twice at Old Trafford earlier in the season, albeit in a 4-2 loss. But that was the third consecutive match between these sides in which the BTTS selection landed, so this look a fairly safe leg to add to an FA Cup combo bet. You have to go back to November for the last time United failed to net in a match, while Brighton are the second-highest scorers (31 goals) in the bottom half of the Premier League.
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