The FA Cup third round has passed without any major giant-killings, which should make for an interesting draw on Monday night.
Chelsea and Manchester United eased through as you would have expected against respective opponents of Peterborough and Reading, while Arsenal and Spurs had to work a little harder against Preston and Aston Villa.
An under-strength Liverpool could not muster more than a 0-0 draw against Plymouth, though, so perhaps there’s still some magic left in the competition after all.
Here are five talking points from the weekend’s action:
5 – John Terry effectively waved goodbye to any possibility of a future at Chelsea with his dismissal. The club are set to appeal what was admittedly a harsh red card, but it robbed the captain of probably his last chance to impress Antonio Conte.
4 – Spurs ought to be giving Georges-Kevin N’Koudou more time. The Frenchman made an instant impact when he came on against Aston Villa and quickly assisted Ben Davies’ goal. This wasn’t N’Koudou’s first impressive performance from the bench, but it could yet have an impact on whether the Lilywhites sign another creative midfielder this month.
3 – Liverpool’s squad is perhaps not as strong as they think it is. Jurgen Klopp slightly disrespected Plymouth with his team selection, and as a result, the Reds now have yet another game to contend with in the fixture list. It will certainly be interesting to see how they line up for the replay at Home Park.
2 – Olivier Giroud is underestimated time and time again, but he shouldn’t be. The striker actually came in for criticism for celebrating his late equaliser against Bournemouth, the wisdom being that he should have been immediately searching for a winner. It was the first 70 minutes that cost Arsenal in that game, though, and against Preston, they once again had Giroud to thank for saving their necks.
1 – Wayne Rooney’s goal against Reading saw him equal Sir Bobby Charlton’s record for Manchester United, and it now seems like only a matter of time before he breaks it. This was meant to be an indication that the England star can still cut it at the top level, but only one of his goals this season has come in the Premier League. Reading’s defensive problems were as noteworthy as Rooney’s milestone, and Jose Mourinho shouldn’t make special arrangements so he can find the back of the net one more time.
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