Manchester rivals pitted against each other

Soccer:Manchester City will host rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup third round after today's draw threw up a mouth-watering derby. The Manchester clubs, who are setting the pace in the Premier League, met in last season's FA Cup semi-final with City winning 1-0 before beating Stoke City in the final.

January's Cup meeting will come almost three months after City stunned their neighbours 6-1 in the league at Old Trafford in a result that signalled their strong intention to challenge United's years of domination in the city.

City have raced to a five-point lead in the Premier League over champions United, who will see the Cup meeting at the Etihad stadium as the perfect chance to exact revenge on their high-flying rivals.

The match is by far the standout of the draw for the first round ties, although the jubilant scenes of players from non-league Tamworth celebrating being handed a trip to Premier League Everton were a reminder of the magic of the FA Cup. Apart from the big Manchester match, there will be one other all top-flight meeting as Newcastle United will host struggling Blackburn Rovers.

FA Cup third round draw

Middlesbrough v Shrewsbury
Nottingham Forest v Leicester
Manchester City v Manchester United
Dagenham & Redbridge/Walsall v Millwall
Crawley v Bristol City
Doncaster v Sutton United/Notts County
Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa
Tottenham v Cheltenham
Sheffield Wednesday v West Ham
MK Dons v QPR
Hull v Ipswich
Coventry v Southampton
Brighton v Wrexham
Fulham v Charlton
Birmingham v Wolves
Norwich v Burnley
Arsenal v Leeds
Derby v Crystal Palace
Fleetwood/Yeovil v Blackpool
Swindon v Wigan
Barnsley v Swansea
Chelmsford/Macclesfield v Bolton
Newcastle v Blackburn
Everton v Tamworth
Sheffield United v Salisbury/Grimsby
Liverpool v Southend/Oldham
Gillingham v Stoke
Chelsea v Portsmouth
Watford v Bradford
Peterborough v Sunderland
West Brom v Cardiff
Reading v Stevenage

Ties will be played the weekend of January 7th-8th