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Charlie Nicholas' FA Cup third round predictions


Sky Sports expert Charlie Nicholas calls the results of some of the big FA Cup third-round matches, backing the Premier League's top six all to avoid upsets.
Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all face lower-league opposition and here's what Charlie is predicting for those games - plus other potential upsets.
Paul Merson reveals his Super 6 Predictions for this weekend
Manchester United v Reading (Saturday, 12.30pm)
Jaap Stam has turned Reading into a good football side. They had a brilliant comeback against Bristol City so they'll be full of confidence that they can defy the odds here.
The former United man clearly has an authority, which isn't guaranteed just because you were a top player, and they're a good passing team and will certainly give United a good game.
West Ham 0-2 Man Utd
However, when Jose Mourinho's sides get going they're very tough to stop. He's firing shots at players and getting responses, as we saw with Anthony Martial being a man of the match against Middlesbrough and Marcus Rashford improving as well.
I think he will rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic and give a start to Wayne Rooney, who would love to win this competition in what I think will be his final season at Old Trafford.

Charlie's tips

Agree with Charlie? Follow his Sky Bet tip here.
Preston v Arsenal (Saturday, 5.30pm)
Arsenal were useless against Bournemouth the other night. I took no pleasure in them coming from three behind and I'm starting to get confused by them again.
Alexis Sanchez is throwing tantrums because he was doing brilliantly before Olivier Giroud came in. Yes, Giroud is scoring goals but what else does he do? Sanchez was doing that and far more.
Perez scores stunner
Saying that, Sanchez is a top-class player but he's got no divine right to just stand out wide and expect everybody to pass to him. I don't know what is going on with him - I think he needs telling and if he doesn't change he needs selling. This team has helped make him a star and he needs to show some appreciation rather than throwing tantrums.
I'd expect Theo Walcott to come back in for Sanchez but I wouldn't think Arsene Wenger will make wholesale changes. Arsenal need to go for the FA Cup as there might not be anything left for them.
Liverpool v Plymouth Argyle (Sunday, 1.30pm)
I don't like to say it, but it is a nice pay day for Derek Adams' team and not very much else.
Liverpool will make plenty of changes and give a few youngsters a chance and, without showing any disrespect, they've got enough quality to come in and still make this a comfortable day.
Sunderland 2-2 Liverpool
I actually fancy a hat-trick in this one and I'm backing Divock Origi to get one. He was in good form before being dropped and will be desperate to prove his point.
Chelsea v Peterborough (Sunday, 3pm)
I don't see problems flaring up at Chelsea after the Tottenham loss and we'll see that the likes of Michy Batshuayi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry will all be ready to come in and perform.
Peterborough are a team who can score a few goals in their league but they've been really disappointing in recent weeks and I see it being a long afternoon for them.
Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea
I'd look at somebody like Willian to produce and prove why he should be starting ahead of Pedro.

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