Aston Villa enters Third Round of FA Cup

Monday evening saw the big boys of English football enter the pot for the FA Cup and Aston Villa looked for a little luck after last years draw of Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Luck was certainly on our side and the live draw picked Villa to host either National League Woking or League One Peterborough. The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw yesterday with Woking home and will clear the result next Tuesday in London Road Stadium.

Woking could enter the third round as one of only four non-league clubs including today’s match between Rochdale and semi-professional Southern Football League Slough Town FC. Go Rebels!

Villa’s aforementioned attempt in the FA Cup last campaign against Spurs played surprisingly evenly for the first three quarters or so before Mauricio Pochettino brought in star forward Dele Alli and turned the tide to earn the victory for Spurs, and though Villa will likely not need a similarly stubborn effort this year to get to the next round, stranger things have happened.

A few extra fixtures this campaign can allow more of the youth team to earn first team time or to showcase some of the more senior members of the squad who could find playing time elsewhere during the January transfer window.

Round 3 will be played the weekend of 6 January.