FA Cup Games Live on SuperSport

However, despite remaining undefeated throughout his previous 21 third-round ties, there have been plenty of scares through the years, and the boss is wary of the threat offered by lower league sides as the competition gets underway.

"From my personal experience in the FA Cup, and I think I have a lot, this is maybe the most difficult round," he said.

"It’s always difficult to start well in the competition and when you play away against a Championship team – it’s always very intense and the Championship teams are ready to face you. For them, it’s a big challenge and you have to maintain your concentration coming out of a very loaded and congested period over Christmas. That’s never easy."

The Gunners are looking for a recordextending 14th FA Cup success, and far from moving down the list of priorities,

The FA Cup, one of football’s oldest and most prestigious cup competitions returns to the big screen Live and in HD on SuperSport, exclusively on DStv. The third round of the competition kicks off with Liverpool going head to head with Everton and Manchester United taking on Derby County.

Speaking on the return of the FA Cup, Mr. Martin Mabutho, the General Manager, Marketing and Sales for MultiChoice Nigeria, said: “It is common knowledge that Nigerians are some of the world’s biggest and most passionate football fans, with the biggest footballing competitions finding an audience in the country. The FA Cup is one of football’s oldest and most important competitions, and MultiChoice is thrilled to bring all of the excitement, live and in HD, to the boss believes the famous old trophy is growing in stature.

"Yeah, I think contrary to what people think, the FA Cup becomes more and more important in every single country,” he said. “Why? Because it’s difficult to win this kind of trophy.

"You have so many teams who want always to win a trophy. It becomes more and more difficult. I think we won it in style in a period where we were questioned."

Meanwhile, Manchester City's players do not appear to share manager Pep Guardiola's concern about a congested fixture list as they prepare to host Burnley in the third round of the FA Cup today.

Guardiola is worried that City have more matches than they can cope with as they compete for success in four competitions.

His side played nine matches during December and face at least seven during January – if they reach the finals of the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, they will have played a minimum of 63 games by the end of the our viewers across Nigeria. Our SuperSport channels have always been the home of premier and exclusive sporting events and the FA Cup is no exception, as we will be broadcasting over 60 games Live and in HD.”

Reigning FA Cup holders Arsenal will begin their title defense at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, by 5pm whilst Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are also involved in fixtures for the FA Cup this weekend.

Speaking further, Mr. Mabutho said: “We remain committed to providing the best sporting content to our subscribers. The New Year is usually filled with top football fixtures highly anticipated by football lovers around the world and DStv viewers can rest assured knowing that they will have all of the best action from the Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and of course the eagerly awaited FIFA 2018 World Cup live and in HD, with the best coverage and commentary.” season.

Guardiola said after Tuesday's 3-1 win over Watford, a result that maintained City's 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League, that English football’s busy Christmas and New Year schedule was "going to kill the players".

Yet midfielder Fernandinho and goalkeeper Ederson have both said they are happy to be playing so many games, and would gladly face Burnley this weekend, even though their manager is considering changes to keep senior players fresh.

"I spent New Year’s Day at home with my child and my wife and I was fresh," said Fernandinho. "We will see what Pep is going to do but, for sure, every player is going to be ready if he needs them to play.

"We are here, we are professional, and I don't like to rest."

Ederson is likely to be replaced by Claudio Bravo, who has featured in all of City's League Cup ties this season, but the Brazil goalkeeper indicated that he is ready to play too. "All the players like to play games, so it is great we have so many matches," he said. "Also, the team are playing really well.

"We had an amazing month in December. We are playing great football and we are getting good results so we are really happy."

City have not lost a domestic game since they were knocked out of last season's FA Cup by Arsenal at the semifinal stage in April.

They did, though, find it tough against Burnley in the Premier League fixture at the Etihad Stadium in October, needing two quick goals from Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane in the final 20 minutes to ensure a flattering 3-0 victory.

City remain without striker Gabriel Jesus, who will be absent until February with medial knee ligament damage suffered during the 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Sunday, while right-back Kyle Walker is a doubt after limping off against Watford with a groin problem.

Midfielder David Silva has missed several recent matches to be with his young son Mateo, who is seriously ill after being born prematurely.

Indeed, Burnley manager Sean Dyche has indicated that he will rest several players after seeing their form slip over Christmas and New Year. Fleetwood Town v Middlesbrough v Aston Villa v Birmingham City v Blackburn Rovers v Bolton Wanderers v Bournemouth v Brentford v Cardiff City v Carlisle United v Coventry City v Doncaster Rovers v Exeter City v Fulham v Ipswich Town v Manchester v Millwall v Newcastle v Queens Park v Stevenage v Watford v Wolverhampton v Wycombe v Yeovil Town v Norwich City v Newport County v Shrewsbury Town v Tottenham Hotspur v 15:00 Nottingham Forest v

Brighton Leicester City 12:45 Sunderland 13:00 Peterborough Utd 15:00 Burton Albion 15:00 Hull City 15:00 Huddersfield 15:00 Wigan Athletic 15:00 Notts County 15:00 Mansfield Town 15:00 Sheffield Wed 15:00 Stoke City 15:00 Rochdale 15:00 West Brom 15:00 Southampton 15:00 Sheffield Utd 15:00 Burnley 15:00 Barnsley 15:00 Luton Town 15:00 Milton Dons 15:00 Reading 15:00 Bristol City 15:00 Swansea City 15:00 Preston North 15:00 Bradford City 15:00 Chelsea 17:30

Leeds United West Ham Utd Wimbledon

Arsenal

12:00 14:00