Manchester United, FA Cup, schedule, third round, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool
Manchester United, after winning the FA Cup title last season, May 21, 2016Reuters

After all the festive madness, the Premier League pauses for breath with the FA Cup taking over this weekend. A total of 32 matches will be played across four days as the third round kicks into gear from Friday.

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All the big teams will be in action and the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool will certainly be happy to take a break from the rigours of the English Premier League.

City will kick off the FA Cup festivities on Friday when they play fellow EPL side West Ham United at the London Stadium. Both teams have had their fair share of disappointments in the Premier League – West Ham definitely more so – so the two sides will be keen to make an impression in the FA Cup.

The second match of the third round is Manchester United vs Reading at Old Trafford on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho looking to take the good cup form from the EFL Cup into the more prestigious one as well, the one they won last season when Louis Van Gaal was the manager. Playing at home, this is a match that Manchester United will quite fancy winning, but Jaap Stam might have a thing or two to say on his return to Old Trafford.

Arsenal are the other big team to play on Saturday, with Arsene Wenger's men facing an away game against Preston North End. While their Premier League form might be a little iffy at the moment, Arsenal have a great FA Cup record under Wenger and they will want to march into the fourth round without too many headaches.

Liverpool and Chelsea both face lower league opposition on Sunday. Liverpool, who are currently five point behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League, host Plymouth Argyle, while the Blues play Peterborough United at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham, after their terrific win over Chelsea on Wednesday, face former Premier League team in Aston Villa, with the third round action completed on Monday with the Cambridge United vs Leeds United match.

FA Cup schedule: Third round (teams named first are the hosts):

Friday, January 6, 2017: West Ham vs Manchester City. KO: 7.55pm GMT, 2.55pmET, 1.25am IST.

Saturday, January 7, 2017: Manchester United vs Reading. KO: 12.30pm GMT, 7.30am ET, 6pm IST.

Ipswich Town vs Lincoln City. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Barrow vs Rochdale. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Hull City vs Swansea City. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Sunderland vs Burnley. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Millwall vs Bournemouth. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Milton Keynes Dons. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Blackpool vs Barnsley. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Wigan Athletic vs Nottingham Forest. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Birmingham City vs Newcastle United. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

West Bromwich Albion vs Derby County. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Everton vs Leicester City. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Wycombe Wanderers vs Stourbridge. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Watford vs Burton Albion. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Stoke City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Bristol City vs Fleetwood Town. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Huddersfield Town vs Port Vale. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Brentford vs Eastleigh. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Bolton Wanderers vs Crystal Palace. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Norwich City vs Southampton. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Sutton United vs AFC Wimbledon. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Accrington Stanley vs Luton Town. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Rotherham United vs Oxford United. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Preston North End vs Arsenal. KO: 5.30pm GMT, 12.30pm ET, 11pm IST.

Sunday, January 8, 2017: Cardiff City vs Fulham. KO: 11.30pm GMT, 6.30am ET, 5pm IST.

Liverpool vs Plymouth Argyle. KO: 1.30pm GMT, 8.30am ET, 7pm IST.

Chelsea vs Peterborough United. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Middlesbrough vs Sheffield Wednesday. KO: 3pm GMT, 10am ET, 8.30pm IST.

Tottenham vs Aston Villa. KO: 4pm GMT, 11am ET, 9.30pm IST.

Monday, January 9, 2017: Cambridge United vs Leeds United. KO: 7.45pm GMT, 2.45pm ET, 1.15am IST.

TV guide: India: Sony ESPN. UK: BT Sport and BBC. USA: Fox Sports. Canada: Sportsnet. Australia: ESPN. Middle East: Bein Sports Arabia.