FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW: Gary Neville aims sly dig at Pep as Salford travel to Man City, while United face daunting trip to rivals and Tamworth get dream home tie against Premier League giants
Gary Neville joked Pep Guardiola is ‘getting sacked in the morning’ after Manchester City were drawn at home to the Class of 92-backed Salford City in the FA Cup third round.
Pressure is piling up on Guardiola after defeat to Liverpool on Sunday made it six defeats out of seven for the reigning Premier League champions in all competitions.
He was heckled by Liverpool’s fans in the closing stages that he is due to be sacked and he responded by holding up six fingers to represent his Premier League titles.
And Neville, who part owns League Two Salford City alongside former Manchester United team-mates Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and David Beckham, could not resist a jibe at City’s expense.
Salford are into the third round for the first time in club history and they will now look to go toe-to-toe with the ailing Premier League champions, who lost to Manchester United in last season’s final at Wembley in May, at the Etihad Stadium in the second week of January.
‘We wanted United due to the owners of our club but we’ll take City,’ Salford City captain Curtis Tilt said.
Gary Neville joked Pep Guardiola is ‘getting sacked in the morning’ after Manchester City were drawn at home to the Class of 92-backed Salford City in the FA Cup third round on Monday
Pep Guardiola is under pressure with City having lost six of their last seven games in total
‘We’ll go there and see if we can cause an upset.’
Meanwhile, Manchester United were handed one of the toughest possible draws as Ruben Amorim’s first taste of the FA Cup will come away to Arsenal.
United are the holders of this competition after Erik ten Hag masterminded an unfenced win over Manchester City in May – but United will face a stern test of their credentials in January at the Emirates Stadium.
Non-league Tamworth, the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, will host Premier League Tottenham, while Liverpool have been handed a home tie against League Two Accrington Stanley.
National League side Tamworth are on a run of cup scalps after knocking out League One sides Huddersfield Town and Burton Albion in rounds one and two.
They now face their biggest one yet as they welcome Ange Postecoglou’s star-studded side to their 4,000-capacity Lamb Ground in the new year.
‘We are delighted with that,’ Tamworth boss Andy Peaks said.
‘I wanted a home draw. It will be sold out and it will be a great atmosphere. One we can really look forward to.’
Ryan Giggs is director of football at Salford, who are in the third round for the first time ever
Man United have been given an away trip to Arsenal in Ruben Amorim’s first taste of the FA Cup
National League side Tamworth will host Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham in what is a dream tie
For Accrington Stanley, the draw evokes memories of the famous ‘Accrington Stanley, who are they?’ advert which featured former Liverpool striker Ian Rush.
The slogan, which was used in an advert for milk in the 1980s, has become synonymous with the club and has been, to this point, the only link between Accrington and Liverpool having never faced each other in a competitive match before.
Dagenham & Redbridge, the only other non-league team remaining in the competition and at this stage for the first time in nine years, will take on Championship side Millwall away from home, while League One promotion chasers Stockport County will travel to Crystal Palace in round three.
Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle were drawn away to Premier League opposition in the form of Brentford, while new Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy will look ahead to a home game against Queens Park Rangers.
Meanwhile, in a potentially fascinating quirk, Ashley Young could be playing his son Tyler when Everton face Peterborough.
