PICK! 2023–24 FA Cup

[happy5214]

The Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup, is the oldest association football (soccer) tournament in the world. Contested by 732 teams across the top 9 divisions of the English football pyramid, along with a few from the tenth, the winner of the final at Wembley Stadium will earn a place in next year's Europa League. Manchester City is the defending champion, after defeating crosstown rival Manchester United in last year's final.

This is the largest contest ever undertaken by The Legion, and here is the format. Our contest starts with the third round proper, where teams from the Premier League and EFL Championship (the top two divisions) enter. All matches are randomly drawn each round, and draws are replayed with new matches (you'll be allowed to change your pick for replays). A second tied score will result in extra time and a penalty shootout, as necessary. The third round has 64 teams, and it's a straight knockout tournament from there on out. The point structure will be determined as we go along, but at least the third and fourth rounds (our first two) will be worth 1 point per match.

This contest is part of the 2023-24 Legion Cup. Due to its massive size, it will award a prize of 3 slot-equivalents, making this a double points contest. Points will also be awarded for the Football/Soccer and Global Cups.

Here are the matches for the third round:

Home Div.	Home Team	Home Abbr.	Away Div.	Away Team	Away Abbr.
1	Crystal Palace	CRY	1	Everton	EVE
1	Brentford	BRE	1	Wolverhampton	WOL
1	Fulham	FUL	2	Rotherham United	ROT
1	Tottenham	TOT	1	Burnley	BUR
4	AFC Wimbledon	WIM	2	Ipswich Town	IPS
2	Millwall	MIL	2	Leicester City	LEI
2	Coventry City	COV	3	Oxford United	OXF
6	Maidstone United	MAI	3	Stevenage	STE
2	Sunderland	SUN	1	Newcastle United	NEW
2	Stoke City	STO	1	Brighton & Hove Albion	BHA
2	Norwich City	NOR	3	Bristol Rovers	BRI
2	Southamption	SOU	4	Walsall	WAL
2	Watford	WAT	5	Chesterfield	CHS
2	Blackburn Rovers	BLB	3	Cambridge United	CAM
4	Gillingham	GIL	1	Sheffield United	SHU
2	Queens Park Rangers	QPR	1	Bournemouth	BOU
2	Plymouth Argyle	PLY	4	Sutton United	SUT
4	Newport County	NC	5	Eastleigh	EAS
2	Hull City	HUL	2	Birmingham City	BIR
2	Middlesbrough	MID	1	Aston Villa	AVL
2	Sheffield Wednesday	SHW	2	Cardiff City	CAR
2	Swansea City	SWA	4	Morecambe	MOR
1	Chelsea	CHL	2	Preston North End	PNE
1	Luton Town	LUT	3	Bolton Wanderers	BOL
3	Shrewsbury Town	SHR	4	Wrexham	WRE
1	West Ham United	WHU	2	Bristol City	BRC
2	West Bromwich Albion	WBA	5	Aldershot Town	ALD
3	Peterborough United	PET	2	Leeds United	LEE
1	Nottingham Forest	NFO	3	Blackpool	BLA
1	Manchester City	MCI	2	Huddersfield Town	HUD
1	Arsenal	ARS	1	Liverpool	LIV
3	Wigan Athletic	WIG	1	Manchester United	MUN

Due to the sheer number of matches, this contest is an exception to the usual rule that picks are due at the start of the event being picked. Crystal Palace vs. Everton picks are due on January 4 at 2 PM. The next three matches listed above (i.e. through Tottenham vs. Burnley) are due January 5 at 1:15 PM. Wigan vs. Manchester United is due January 8 at 2:15 PM. The remaining matches are due on January 6 at 6:30 AM.

Good luck to all in this experiment.

[hockeyD13 (Ozark)]

Crystal Palace
Brentford
Fullham
Tottenham
Ipswich
Leicester
Coventry
Stevenage
Newcastle
Brighton
Norwich
Southampton
Watford
Blackburn
Sheffield utd
Bournemouth
Plymouth argyle
Newport county
Hull
Aston Villa
Sheffield Wednesday
Swansea
Chelsea
Luton
Shrewsbury
West ham
West Brom
Leeds
Blackpool
Man City
Arsenal
Man U

[Deadpocketss]

Crystal Palace
Brentford
Fulham
Tottenham
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Coventry City
Stevenage
Newcastle United
Brighton & Hove Albion
Norwich
Southamption
Watford
Blackburn
Sheffield United
Bournemouth
Plymouth Argyle
Newport County
Hull City
Aston Villa
Cardiff City
Swansea City
Chelsea
Luton Town
Wrexham
West Ham United
West Brom
Leeds
Nottingham
Manchester City
Arsenal
Manchester United

[juleandor]

Crystal Palace
Brentford
Rotherham United
Tottenham
AFC Wimbledon
Leicester City
Oxford United
Stevenage
Newcastle United
Stoke City
Bristol Rovers
Southamption
Chesterfield
Cambridge United
Gillingham GIL
Queens Park Rangers
Sutton United
Eastleigh
Birmingham City
Aston Villa
Cardiff City
Swansea City
Chelsea
Bolton Wanderers
Wrexham
Bristol City
West Bromwich Albion
Peterborough United
Nottingham Forest
Manchester City
Arsenal
Manchester United

[jacka]

Crystal Palace
Brentford
Rotherham United
Tottenham TOT
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Coventry City
Stevenage
Newcastle United
Stoke City
Norwich City
Southamption
Chesterfield
Cambridge United
Sheffield United
Bournemouth
Plymouth Argyle
Newport County
Hull City
Aston Villa
Cardiff City
Morecambe
Chelsea
Bolton Wanderers
Shrewsbury Town
Bristol City
West Bromwich Albion
Leeds United
Blackpool
Manchester City
Arsenal
Manchester United

[king qaz]

Crystal Palace
Wolverhampton
Fulham
Tottenham
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Coventry City
Stevenage
Newcastle United
Brighton & Hove Albion
Norwich City
Southamption
Watford
Blackburn Rovers
Sheffield United
Bournemouth
Plymouth Argyle
Newport County
Birmingham City
Aston Villa
Cardiff City
Swansea City
Chelsea
Luton Town
Shrewsbury Town
West Ham United
West Bromwich Albion
Leeds United
Nottingham Forest
Manchester City
Liverpool
Manchester United

[Firkinvald]

Crystal Palace
Brentford
Fullham
Tottenham
Ipswich
Leicester
Coventry
Stevenage
Newcastle
Brighton
Norwich
Southampton
Watford
Blackburn
Sheffield United
Bournemouth
Plymouth Argyle
Newport County
Hull City
Aston Villa
Sheffield Wednesday
Swansea
Chelsea
Luton
Wrexham
West Ham
West Brom
Leeds
Nottingham Forest
Manchester City
Arsenal
Manchester United

[happy5214]

Everton
Wolverhamption Wanderers
Fulham
Tottenham Hotspur
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Coventry City
Stevenage
Newcastle United
Brighton & Hove Albion
Bristol Rovers
Southampton
Chesterfield
Cambridge United
Gillingham
Bournemouth
Plymouth Argyle
Newport County
Hull City
Aston Villa
Cardiff City
Swansea City
Chelsea
Bolton Wanderers
Wrexham
West Ham United
West Bromwich Albion
Peterborough United
Blackpool
Manchester City
Arsenal
Manchester United

[happy5214]

The third round proper concluded on Monday. Here are the results in as good a format as I can display.

• Crystal Palace 0 - 0 Everton
• Brentford 1 - 1 Wolverhampton
• Fulham 1 - 0 Rotherham United
• Tottenham 1 - 0 Burnley
• AFC Wimbledon 1 - 3 Ipswich Town
• Millwall 2 - 3 Leicester City
• Coventry City 6 - 2 Oxford United
• Maidstone United 1 - 0 Stevenage
• Sunderland 0 - 3 Newcastle United
• Stoke City 2 - 4 Brighton & Hove Albion
• Norwich City 1 - 1 Bristol Rovers
• Southamption 4 - 0 Walsall
• Watford 2 - 1 Chesterfield
• Blackburn Rovers 5 - 2 Cambridge United
• Gillingham 0 - 4 Sheffield United
• Queens Park Rangers 2 - 3 Bournemouth
• Plymouth Argyle 3 - 1 Sutton United
• Newport County 1 - 1 Eastleigh
• Hull City 1 - 1 Birmingham City
• Middlesbrough 0 - 1 Aston Villa
• Sheffield Wednesday 4 - 0 Cardiff City
• Swansea City 2 - 0 Morecambe
• Chelsea 4 - 0 Preston North End
• Luton Town 0 - 0 Bolton Wanderers
• Shrewsbury Town 0 - 1 Wrexham
• West Ham United 1 - 1 Bristol City
• West Bromwich Albion 4 - 1 Aldershot Town
• Peterborough United 0 - 3 Leeds United
• Nottingham Forest 2 - 2 Blackpool
• Manchester City 5 - 0 Huddersfield Town
• Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool
• Wigan Athletic 0 - 2 Manchester United

Here is a table of the picks I have recorded for you (the cell is filled in if you picked that team) and whether it was correct (#N/A means it was a draw). Let me know if anything is incorrect:

Teams

CRY

EVE

BRE

WOL

FUL

ROT

TOT

BUR

WIM

IPS

MIL

LEI

COV

OXF

MAI

STE

SUN

NEW

STO

BHA

NOR

BRI

SOU

WAL

WAT

CHS

BLB

CAM

GIL

SHU

QPR

BOU

PLY

SUT

NC

EAS

HUL

BIR

MID

AVL

SHW

CAR

SWA

MOR

CHL

PNE

LUT

BOL

SHR

WRE

WHU

BRC

WBA

ALD

PET

LEE

NFO

BLA

MCI

HUD

ARS

LIV

WIG

MUN

hockeyD13 (Ozark)

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Deadpocketss

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juleandor

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jacka

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king qaz

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Firkinvald

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happy5214

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Here are the point standings pending the replays:

Ruler	Round of 64
Firkinvald	22
hockeyD13 (Ozark)	21
Deadpocketss	21
king qaz	21
happy5214	17
jacka	15
juleandor	11

There were 8 drawn matches in the third round. As stated in the OP, you will be allowed to change any or all of those picks, or leave them the same, before the replays are contested on January 16/17 (exact times TBD). Please do it in a new post. Here is a full list of drawn matches:

• Crystal Palace vs. Everton
• Brentford vs. Wolverhampton
• Norwich City vs. Bristol Rovers
• Newport County vs. Eastleigh
• Hull City vs. Birmingham City
• Luton Town vs. Bolton Wanderers
• West Ham United vs. Bristol City
• Nottingham Forest vs. Blackpool

The fourth round was also drawn today. Here are the match-ups, with placeholders for the match-ups needing to be replayed:

• Watford vs. Southamption
• Blackburn Rovers vs. Wrexham
• Bournemouth vs. Swansea City
• West Bromwich Albion vs. Brentford/Wolverhampton Wanderers
• West Ham United/Bristol City vs. Nottingham Forest/Blackpool
• Leicester City vs. Hull City/Birmingham City
• Sheffield Wednesday vs. Coventry City
• Chelsea vs. Aston Villa
• Ipswich Town vs. Maidstone United
• Liverpool vs. Norwich City/Bristol Rovers
• Tottenham vs. Manchester City
• Leeds United vs. Plymouth Argyle
• Crystal Palace/Everton vs. Luton Town/Bolton Wanderers
• Newport County/Eastleigh vs. Manchester United
• Sheffield United vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
• Fulham vs. Newcastle United

Correct fourth round picks are worth 1 point each, and they are all due on January 27 at 9 AM server time.

[jacka]

Everton
Brentford
Norwich City
Eastleigh
Birmingham City
Luton Town
Bristol City
Blackpool



Southamption
Wrexham
Bournemouth
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United/Bristol City
Leicester City
Coventry City
Chelsea
Ipswich Town
Liverpool
Manchester City
Leeds United
Luton Town/Bolton Wanderers
Manchester United
Sheffield United
Newcastle United