Arsenal have drawn either Cheltenham Town or Portsmouth in their first match of the FA Youth Cup, depending on the second-round winner next week.

Even though many of the FA Youth Cup second-round matches are yet to be played, the draw for the third round has already been made, with Arsenal entering the competition at this stage.

The Gunners have drawn Cheltenham Town or Portsmouth, with the second-round match between the two potential opponents taking place next Wednesday at 7pm, November 13th.

The third round will then be played at some stage before Saturday, December 14th. You can see the full draw at the bottom of this article.

Arsenal suffered a disappointing exit to West Brom in the competition last year, with many players admitting afterwards that they’d been a bit complacent given their fantastic form in the u18 PL Southern Division (which they won) and the cup up to that point.

They’d beaten Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 in the previous round, with Bukayo Saka, Xavier Amaechi and Folarin Balogun running riot that day, after winning 2-0 against Northampton Town in their first match of the competition.

In the end, though, a 2-1 defeat to West Brom meant the team fell short of the previous year’s run to the final. It’s up to Miguel Azeez, Ben Cottrell, Sam Greenwood and the rest to put things right this year.

Third-round draw in full

1. Manchester City v Swansea City
2. Shrewsbury Town or Sunderland v Birmingham City
3. Cardiff City v Ipswich Town or Exeter City
4. Cheltenham Town or Portsmouth v Arsenal
5. Stevenage or Brentwood Town or Peterborough United v Aston Villa
6. Carlisle United or Bradford City v Stoke City
7. Manchester United v Lincoln City or Wrexham
8. Wigan Athletic v Croydon or Bath City
9. Preston North End v Bristol City
10. Sheffield United v Hanworth Villa or AFC Wimbledon
11. Fulham v South Shields or Hartlepool United
12. Norwich City v Newcastle United
13. Bristol Rovers v Southampton
14. Luton Town v Sheffield Wednesday
15. Blackburn Rovers v Uxbridge or Newport County
16. Chelsea v Huddersfield Town
17. Mansfield Town or Rotherham United v Queens Park Rangers
18. Reading v Crystal Palace
19. Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest
20. Fleetwood Town v Watford
21. Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City
22. Middlesbrough v Dulwich Hamlet or Forest Green Rovers
23. Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
24. Leeds United v Hull City
25. Burton Albion or Bolton Wanderers v Millwall
26. Crewe Alexandra or Grimsby Town v Barnsley
27. Colchester United or Oxford United v Ware or Maidenhead United
28. AFC Bournemouth v Barnet or Cambridge United
29. Curzon Ashton or Oldham Athletic v Burnley
30. West Ham United v Charlton Athletic
31. Derby County v Everton
32. West Bromwich Albion v Scunthorpe United or Morpeth Town