Arsenal’s quest for a 15th FA Cup success will begin with a trip to League One side Oxford United.
We last faced Oxford in the FA Cup in 2003, on that occasion winning 2-0 at Highbury courtesy of a Dennis Bergkamp strike and an own goal. We also faced the U’s in the same competition 60 years ago, winning that one 5-1.
The third round ties are due to take place across the weekend of Friday 6 January to Monday 9 January 2023 but we won’t know the exact date until broadcast selections have been made.
Whatever slot we’re given, it’ll fall between a tough home clash with Newcastle and the second north London derby of the season on 15 January. Should we progress, the fourth round will take place before the end of January after we’ve hosted Manchester United.
The Gunners exited the FA Cup at the third round stage last season with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Full draw
Preston – Huddersfield
Middlesbrough – Brighton
Chesterfield – West Brom
Manchester City – Chelsea
Charlton/Stockport – Walsall
Boreham Wood – Accrington Stanley
Sp*rs – Portsmouth
Derby – Barnsley
Cardiff – Leeds
Brentford – West Ham
Bournemouth – Burnley
Coventry – Wrexham
Norwich – Blackburn
Aston Villa – Stevenage
Luton – Wigan
Oxford United – Arsenal
Fleetwood – QPR
Liverpool – Wolves
Grimsby – Burton
Blackpool – Nottingham Forest
Dagenham & Redbridge/Gillingham – Leicester
Forest Green – Birmingham
Bristol City – Swansea
Hartlepool – Stoke
Hull – Fulham
Crystal Palace – Southampton
Millwall – Sheffield United
Hull – Fulham
Crystal Palace – Southampton
Millwall – Sheffield United
Shrewsbury – Sunderland
Sheffield Wednesday – Newcastle
Manchester United – Everton
Ipswich – Rotherham
COYG!!! ESR masterclass in the 3rd round and Mudryk masterclass in the fourth round.
I’ll tell you what mate, if we sign Mudryk, that fucking Premiership title will be inching ever closer without a ball even being kicked.
Dear Santa, I promise to be a good lad and not take the piss out of Spurs fans quite so much in future, etc, etc… 🙏🏻🎅🏼
Not being able to take the piss out of the scum is a pretty steep price to pay for anything. But I can relate…
Excited for Matt Turner, too. He will surely be starting in this one. After his WC display so far, I think it’s safe to say we underrated him.
Yeah. You’re right. I think he’s been good since his first game for us. As a shot stopper, he’s not bad at all for a second choice.
We’re well educated and have studied well this season so I expect us to pass this exam and graduate from Oxford.
Brilliant!!!😛
They named one of their colleges after Gabriel Jesus, so there’s a healthy respect between the sides.
IIRC, Gabriel College Oxford only exists in a fictional parallel universe described by Philip Pullman…
I’ll watch anything with Bill Pullman in it.
Ruthless People: fantastic movie!
Zero Effect: underrated!
You get a good EDUcation at that college.
Ben White attends a language class there to study Brazilian.
For some weird reason, I don’t feel that usual sense of dread about this news. Just a “yeah, bring it on” kind of thing. We might not beat the oil-greased fuckers, but they won’t be turning us over like they used to…
I didn’t realise Oxford United had anything to do with oil 😂
They have a tin of 3-in-1 that they use to oil the hinges on the doors of the equipment shed when they squeak.
Wrong thread, but I did enjoy the idea of Oxford’s players greasing themselves up before the game.
Great draw!!
We can rest the big guns ands still coast through this.
Lots of all-Premier League ties so the fourth round will be light of the big guns. Hopefully we’ll get another easy draw in the next round too
Ooooooh Aaaaaaahhhhh
Looks OK (but so did the League Cup draw). Hopefully, we can get though our opening match in this cup. As a “big club” we really need to be fighting domestically on more than the PL “front” – just in case, if for nothing else.
I remember a nasty League Cup defeat at Oxford in October 1984, back when the League Cup actually meant something to everyone and the defeat was quite a bitter pill to swallow.
Don Howe was a great coach, but way too nice to be a manager. (Coaches and Managers were two people back then, not the same person).
Still, I don’t see us having the same problems this time around in the FA Cup.
Would love the boys to go on and win it yet again. 🏆
COYG
Without checking, I think the 2003 game marked the debut of another DB … David Bentley and finished with a chant of Living in a Bentley wonderland as he did so well during his 20 minutes or so on the pitch
He always tried his best to look like Wesley in The Princess Bride.
Someone once told him to act like an entitled little cock and only play well when it was a personal grudge match against Arsenal. “As you wish,” he cried, as his career tumbled into oblivion.
Oxford are one of my local sides. a) Do NOT expect this to be an easy game, they’re a decent, organised outfit in a purple patch of form, b) expect somewhere between 1,100 (what they gave City) & 1,800 away allocation maximum, c) Marcus McGuane (the artist formerly known Marcus Agyei-Tabi) plays for Oxford now.
It’s paltry but still more than fans going to Bournemouth’s even smaller stadium.
Long gone are the days of Wenger offering to switch stadiums to benefit all parties.
An FA Cup host club have to give the away side 15% minimum tickets so yep I’d expect around 1,875.
City was the League Cup, believe the minimum in that competition is set lower at 10%.
Yeah you’re right – 1875 it will be. Crap ground, 3-sided so a poor atmosphere & quite parky on a windy day!
Also, no pubs near to the ground really, just a dodgy bowling alley/cinema complex. Ground is a fair journey from the city centre & possible train strike anyway. My tip: get the Oxford Tube bus from London – every 10 mins.
Will still be a great day for the locals to have Arsenal in town.
Man City v Chelsea lol
Hopefully that’ll mean 22 stretchered off.
Full-strength teams for additional wear and tear, hopefully energy-sapping extra time, mentally draining and memory scarring penalty shoot out (lots of misses), some straight red cards leading to 3-game suspensions, and half a dozen season-ending injuries after a mass brawl which results in a Premier League points deduction and three-season ban from the FA cup. That seems reasonable, fair and proportionate to me.
Half time pitch side ‘entertainment’ provided by Phil Collins, with his new song ‘Yet Another Spursy Christmas (Because I’m a Cunting Spurs fan).’
given how many games we’ll have to play the next few months, i couldn’t have oxford a better draw
Tenuous! 🤣
Think we should rest all our first teamers, be fresh for NLD and what happens with fa cup, happens. We should put all of our efforts into PL and EL. Those boys should be strong enough to beat Oxford though.
Agree, should be a full 11 rotation.
‘They’ have Portsmouth at home so they’ll be fully rotating too.
I was at that game and remember David Bentley coming on, possibly his debut, and he was brilliant.