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
- Manchester City v Swansea City
- Shrewsbury Town or Sunderland v Birmingham City
- Cardiff City v Ipswich Town or Exeter City
- Cheltenham Town or Portsmouth v Arsenal
- Stevenage or Brentwood Town or Peterborough United v Aston Villa
- Carlisle United or Bradford City v Stoke City
- Manchester United v Lincoln City or Wrexham
- Wigan Athletic v Croydon or Bath City
- Preston North End v Bristol City
- Sheffield United v Hanworth Villa or AFC Wimbledon
- Fulham v South Shields or Hartlepool United
- Norwich City v Newcastle United
- Bristol Rovers v Southampton
- Luton Town v Sheffield Wednesday
- Blackburn Rovers v Uxbridge or Newport County
- Chelsea v Huddersfield Town
- Mansfield Town or Rotherham United v Queens Park Rangers
- Reading v Crystal Palace
- Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest
- Fleetwood Town v Watford
- Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City
- Middlesbrough v Dulwich Hamlet or Forest Green Rovers
- Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
- Leeds United v Hull City
- Burton Albion or Bolton Wanderers v Millwall
- Crewe Alexandra or Grimsby Town v Barnsley
- Colchester United or Oxford United v Ware or Maidenhead United
- AFC Bournemouth v Barnet or Cambridge United
- Curzon Ashton or Oldham Athletic v Burnley
- West Ham United v Charlton Athletic
- Derby County v Everton
- West Bromwich Albion v Scunthorpe United or Morpeth Town