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Oh hey, the draw for the FA Cup was today! That was a surprise, but a welcome one. Tottenham Hotspur drew a home match against League 1 side AFC Wimbledon in the next round, which will be held the week of January 5, 2018.
We have been drawn at home to AFC Wimbledon in the third round of the @EmiratesFACup.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 4, 2017
️ Games will take place across the weekend of 5-8 January 2018. #COYS pic.twitter.com/u0uS4TcZIZ
This is a nice draw for Spurs, who now should be able to rest some of their key players after the hectic Christmas fixture congestion before things REALLY get serious in the Cup. Wimbledon have slowly worked their way up the pyramid since their founding in 2002 in the wake of Wimbledon FC moving to Milton Keynes and rebranding as MK Dons, a move that’s kind of like when the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis only more traumatic.
Wimbledon started out in the non-league Combined Counties League and are now competing in the same division as MK Dons. They are currently 20th in the League 1 table, and are affectionately known as the “Wombles.” I quite like them.
The full FA Cup draw, which was drawn by former Spurs players Glenn Hoddle and Jermaine Jenas, threw out one particularly tasty match up as Liverpool will host Everton in an early round Merseyside Derby. Brighton also drew Crystal Palace in another third round match-up of two Premier League teams.
Here’s the full draw, in case you’re interested.
- Ipswich Town vs. Sheffield United
- Watford vs. Bristol City
- Birmingham vs. Burton Albion
- Liverpool vs. Everton
- Brighton vs. Crystal Palace
- Aston Villas. Woking/Peterborough
- Coventry City vs. Stoke
- Newport County vs. Leeds
- Bolton vs. Huddersfield
- Port Vale/Yeovil vs. Bradford
- Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal
- Brentford vs. Notts County
- QPR vs. MK Dons
- Manchester United vs. Derby County
- Forest Green Rovers/Exeter City vs. West Brom
- Doncaster Rovers vs. Slough Town/Rochdale
- Tottenham Hotspur vs. AFC Wimbledon
- Middlesbrough vs. Sunderland
- Fleetwood Town/Hereford vs. Leicester City
- Blackburn vs. Crewe Alexandra/Hull City
- Cardiff vs. Mansfield Town
- Manchester City vs. Burnley
- Shrewsbury Town vs. West Ham
- Wolverhampton vs. Swansea City
- Stevenage vs. Reading
- Newcastle vs. Luton Town
- Millwall vs. Barnsley
- Fulham vs. Southampton
- Wycombe vs. Preston North End
- Norwich vs. Chelsea
- Gillingham/Carlisle vs. Sheffield Wednesday