Talking points ahead of the FA Cup third round

The FA Cup third round takes centre stage this weekend as Premier League clubs enter the competition.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at some talking points going into what could prove another memorable set of fixtures.

Rotation, rotation, rotation

Given how many matches every club has faced over the hectic festive schedule, fans should expect one or two less familiar names on the team-sheets this weekend. However, while protecting the fitness of key men for the battles ahead on all fronts is one thing, it also presents an opportunity for others to show the manager just why they should be in the team week-in, week-out – or indeed not, depending on how things pan out.

Banana skins everywhere

New Arsenal head coach Unai Emery will get his first taste of England’s oldest knockout competition at Blackpool on Saturday afternoon – and for all his FA Cup success, former manager Arsene Wenger knew just how tough the first hurdle can be. Cardiff’s trip to Sky Bet League One Gillingham is ripe for a Premier League scalp, while Oldham will be out to upset the form book away against Fulham as will non-league Woking when they host Watford on Sunday, while Leicester face a testing Welsh adventure to Newport. Rotherham winning at Manchester City, though, might just be too much FA Cup third-round magic to ask for.

Is Ole on his way to Wembley?

You suspect Ole Gunnar Solskjaer probably does not need an FA Cup run to further ingratiate himself on the Manchester United faithful – but that is not about to stop the Norwegian boss giving it his all to get to Wembley. Having won the famous old trophy en route to the Treble in 1999 (and again in 2004), the United interim boss would do his chances of getting the job full-time no harm with a repeat some 20 years later.

It’s VAR time, again

Love it or loathe it, the Video Assistant Referee is here to stay, well it will be soon anyway. Nine ties over Saturday and Sunday will have the system in place, following on from last season, which included the final. As everyone, on and off the pitch, gets more used to the dynamics, arguments over the project’s implementation should become less frequent – leaving us all left to find something else to argue about.

Reds set for instant revival?

Liverpool will be the last of the Premier League sides in action over FA Cup third-round weekend when they travel to Wolves on Monday night. An extra day will offer not only some welcome additional recovery time, but also more pause for thought on the fallout of the defeat at Manchester City. All, of course, is not yet lost for Jurgen Klopp’s exciting side – but fail to produce the required response, no matter how much of a changed team at Molineux, and there will be more questions on whether the Reds do indeed have what it takes to last the distance.