The Guardian (Nigeria)

Liverpool, Man City, Others To Thrill Fans In FA Cup Matches

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THeyear 2020 will kick off on an exciting note for football lovers as the third round of games in the prestigiou­s English FA Cup kicks off today. A live coverage of the thrilling round of games in the oldest football competitio­n in the world will be available to Dstv subscriber­s live in HD.

As is custom, top English Premier League teams will begin to participat­e in the competitio­n from the third round after lower league teams played in the first and second round of games to secure their spots in the knockout competitio­n.

The pick of the third round of games is the Merseyside derby tomorrow, 5 January, which will see league leaders Liverpool attempt to continue their dominance over Everton and stay in the race for a domestic double.

The Reds are favourites for a first league title in 29 years and may be forced to field fringe players for the FA Cup competitio­n, although they’ll be conscious of a similar decision, which cost them a spot in the Carabao Cup semifinal when they lost to Aston Villa 50. All the action from Anfield will be shown live on SS3 at

18: 01.

Elsewhere, at the Etihad, Manchester City will be expected to land a spot in the fourth round as they host Port Vale today. Pep Guardiola’s team has been left to play catch up to Liverpool in the Premier League this term but the Citizens will not relent in their aim to end the football season with major trophies to their name. The defending champions’ clash with Port Vale will be live on SS6/ SS10 at 19: 31.

Struggling North London club, Arsenal will have their work cut out days later as they welcome Championsh­ip outfit, Leeds United, to the Emirates on Monday. The Gunners ran out 1- 0 winners the last time both clubs met in the competitio­n in 2012, with club legend Thierry Henry snatching victory for his team on his debut for a second stint with the club.

The Gunners will, however, relish the clash as the promising centre forward, Eddie Nketiah, may not feature for

Leeds as he continues his season- long loan spell from Arsenal. The encounter will be televised live on SS3 at

20: 56.

The clash between Manchester United and Wolverhamp­ton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium today is a potential banana skin for the Red Devils who have struggled to pick maximum points from mid- table teams in the Premier League this season, and the hosts will be up for the challenge from the kick- off to compound under- fire manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s woes. Other highly interestin­g games to look forward to their live broadcast on Supersport channels on Dstv include: Leicester City vs Wigan Athletic ( SS4; 19: 31), Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest ( SS3/ SS10; 16: 01),

Southampto­n vs Huddersfie­ld Town ( SS4;

17: 01), Brighton & Hove Albion vs Sheffield Wednesday

( SS6/ SS13; 17: 01) and many more.

Catch all the live- action, surprises and magic of the FA Cup on Supersport on Dstv.

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