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The FA Cup Draw gods have given the people exactly what they wanted: A proper derby. Manchester United will face Manchester City in the Third Round of the FA Cup, and with Champions League matches nowhere near that fixture date, neither team will have any disincentive to playing a strong team. It's by far the highlight of the draw.
Newcastle and Blackburn play in another matchup of Premier League teams, while Birmingham City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers is a local derby that makes for a decent cup tie.
The Third Round of the FA Cup consists of 64 teams. The 20 teams from the Premier League and the 24 teams from the Championship all begin play in the third round and qualify for this stage automatically. The competition consists of two preliminary rounds and four qualifying rounds for amateur, semi-professional and professional non-league sides. Clubs from League 1 and League 2, the third and fourth divisions of English football, enter the competition automatically in the first round.
All of the FA Cup Third Round ties will be played on the weekend of Jan. 7, 2012.
FA Cup Third Round Fixtures
Middlesbrough vs. Shrewsbury Town
Manchester City vs. Manchester United
Nottingham Forest vs. Leicester
Dag & Red or Walsall vs. Millwall
Bristol Rovers vs. Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Cheltenham Town
Crawley Town vs. Bristol City
Doncaster Rovers vs. Sutton United or Notts County
Sheffield Wednesday vs. West Ham United
MK Dons vs. Queens Park Rangers
Hull City vs. Ipswich Town
Coventry City vs. Southampton
Brighton and Hove Albion vs. Wrexham
Fulham vs. Charlton Athletic
Birmingham City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Norwich City vs. Burnley
Arsenal vs. Leeds United
Derby County vs. Crystal Palace
Fleetwood or Yeovil Town vs. Blackpool
Swindon Town vs. Wigan
Barnsley vs. Swansea City
Chelmsford or Macclesfield Town vs. Bolton Wanderers
Newcastle United vs. Blackburn Rovers
Everton vs. Tamworth
Sheffield United vs. Salisbury City or Grimsby Town
Liverpool vs. Southend United or Oldham
Gillingham vs. Stoke City
Chelsea vs. Portsmouth
Watford vs. Bradford City
Peterborough United vs. Sunderland
West Bromwich Albion vs. Cardiff City
Reading vs. Stevenage