I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year but it's time to get over the hangovers, forget about Covid and concentrate on the football again.
The first weekend after the New Year in England is traditionally FA Cup 3rd round weekend as the top two tiers of English football join the minnows who have been fighting it out since June, firstly to qualify for the full competition and then to get chance to meet one of the big boys in a glorious David v Goliath game.
Today's game is one of those such games...
@nathen007's Prediction
Its time for league 2 Swindon to step into the limelight to take on the Premier League leaders Manchester City. Let's be honest, we're not expecting Swindon to get a result here but it's not beyond the realms of possibility. This is the magic of the FA Cup!
An adrenalin fuelled minnow taking on a second string giant at their home ground packed to the rafters with ardent supporters can really throw a spanner in the works for a team chasing honours on four fronts.
Swindon's league form hasn't been too bad this season and they currently sit in a 5th place play-off position and it does make me wonder whether they too will not field a full strength team, happy with the big payday but needing to be realistic and concentrate on maintaining a push for promotion.
Confidence will be high in the Swindon camp after a 5-2 demolition of Northampton last weekend and with the introduction of new signings, O'Brien, the former Palace centre-back and Idem, a young goalkeeper on a free who last played for Derby County, they are obviously out to give it a crack.
City will be without manager tonight, Pep Guardiola, as he tested positive for Covid. Last year they had a 'nearly' moment as Cheltenham hit them with some old school route one football which they made a meal of dealing with but Swindon play a more traditional game and regardless of the team City put out, it's going to be a whitewash!
Prediction: Swindon Town 0 : 6 Manchester City - First Scorer: Jack Grealish
Simply write the name of the FIRST GOALSCORER and the CORRECT SCORE as a comment. The competition closes 5 minutes before kick-off which is 20.00 GMT
There are no replays in the third round so games will be settled by extra time and penalties so check the rules carefully, we use the score after 90 minutes to determine the winners!
The Small Print
In the first goalscorer competition, own goals do not count. In the correct score competition, it's the score after 90mins. Extra time and penalties do not count and the pot for each competition will roll over if there is no winner. If more than one person chooses the same first goal scorer or correct score, the prize is shared, and everyone gets a little upvote! It seems I also need to add, one entry per person. Don't forget the new rule that only people with a rep of 50 or above are eligible to enter unless they have been approved. The bonus will be added to any winnings ONLY if Leeds United win and/or Man U lose and all pay-outs will never exceed 50% of post-pay-out. Other bonuses are paid out at my discretion.
And the Winners were...
There were none in the last game between Leicester and Liverpool which ended 1-0 to the Foxes with Lookman scoring the first goal, however, an HBI token each go out to @olawalium and @yeckingo1 . Well done guys :-)
Yes, I realise I just screwed up the transfer but i'll give them a shout in Discord to sort it out!
That's it for today, keep your eyes pen guys as I'll be doing a post for each of the next 3 consecutive days of Cup action!
