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Everton visit Crystal Palace on Thursday in the first of the weekend’s FA Cup third-round fixtures. Sky Sports’ football writers look at the key talking points…

Can Elliott stake a claim to be Salah’s Liverpool understudy?

Arsenal vs Liverpool – Sunday, 4.30pm

Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round tie at Arsenal on Sunday will be the first time manager Jurgen Klopp is unable to select Mohamed Salah in his starting lineup this season now that the forward has joined up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Salah’s absence for the rest of January “damages” the Reds, according to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, and while the player is irreplaceable, Klopp can use the clash at the Emirates to try out who he believes is best suited to fill in for the Premier League’s joint top scorer on the righthand side of their attack.

Do not be surprised then to see Harvey Elliott handed the job, a role he has already taken on when coming off the bench to replace Salah at times this season, while the versatile forward is also comfortable operating on that side of the pitch – unlike fellow forwards Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, who all either prefer to play on the left of a front three, or through the middle.

And with two top-flight goals and an assist to his name so far this campaign, including a recent late winner at Crystal Palace, the 20-year-old has the confidence to take on one of the hardest jobs in world football – replacing Salah.
Richard Morgan

Key Arsenal players need a breather – but replacements will be desperate to show their worth

Arsenal will play Liverpool three times in a little over a month but this second instalment of the series may be the one where Mikel Arteta makes his team selections based on the bigger picture. A win would be a timely morale-boost but recovery may well be the primary focus.

The defeat at Fulham last weekend was well below par and no doubt Arteta and the players from that match will be itching to get back out on the field and put in an improved performance. But after a packed festive schedule, a physical and mental rest will surely be in order for some, with Arsenal winning just one of their last six in all competitions.

There will be some enforced selections, with Jakob Kiwior certain to be in defence with Takehiro Tomiyasu at the Asian Cup and Oleksandr Zinchenko nursing a calf problem. Cup regulars Aaron Ramsdale, Leandro Trossard, Emile Smith Rowe and Jorginho are also likely to get a run out.

Arteta used the Carabao Cup tie at West Ham earlier this season to take key men Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba out of the firing line, and a similar approach could be on the cards here – despite the heavyweight opponents coming to the Emirates.

With a Champions League last-16 tie to look forward to and a Premier League title challenge to relaunch, the FA Cup has been nudged down the priority list for Arsenal right now. But it will still be a big game for the fringe players handed their chance – and if Liverpool take a similar view, Arteta could well have his cake and eat it.
Peter Smith

De Bruyne vows to return the ‘best player in the world’

Manchester City vs Huddersfield – Sunday, 2pm

“The whole country is starting to shake.” That was the unique assessment of Klopp when Kevin De Bruyne partook in his first touchline warm-up since returning from injury at the weekend.

There was not a greater cheer among Manchester City supporters all afternoon during their routine win over Sheffield United last Saturday. The Belgian has only played 23 league minutes this season having undergone surgery on a persistent hamstring problem.

An unused substitute against the Blades, the visit of Huddersfield to the Etihad Stadium this weekend offers Pep Guardiola the ideal opportunity to ease De Bruyne back to full fitness.

With the Premier League champions not having any players away on international duty this month, De Bruyne’s return brings with it a double delight.

Warm weather training in the Middle East for the Club World Cup has helped the 32-year-old step up the intensity of training with his team-mates. De Bruyne has said he is determined to become the “best player in the world”. After four months of watching on from the sidelines, he will hope to take the first step on that journey this weekend against the Terriers.
Ben Grounds

Elokobi living Cup dream with Maidstone

Maidstone vs Stevenage – Saturday, 12.30pm

George Elokobi’s love affair with the FA Cup runs deep. When he was a youngster growing up in Cameroon, the former Wolves centre-back would cut grass with a machete and chop wood to earn money to watch cup matches at a ‘mini cinema’.

The 37-year-old has since played and scored in the famous competition with his hometown of Kumbu now set to watch his sixth-tier Maidstone United, the lowest-ranked team remaining, host League One side Stevenage on Saturday lunchtime.

Elokobi has been in permanent charge of the National League South club since last March, his first managerial job after hanging up his boots in 2022 following a career that took him from non-League to the Premier League with four promotions and goals at every level.

Maidstone beat League Two high-fliers Barrow to reach the third round for the first time since reforming in 1992 and a sold-out Gallagher Stadium awaits Elokobi’s next cup adventure.
David Richardson

Newcastle cannot lose the ‘one game they didn’t want’

Sunderland vs Newcastle – Saturday, 2.45pm

With just one win from their last eight games, a cup tie against lower-league opposition should be the perfect get-right match for Newcastle. But instead, a trip to Sunderland is the “one game they didn’t want”.

That was the view of Gary Neville and it’s easy to see why. It’s been nearly eight years since the sides last met and Sunderland will welcome Newcastle to the Stadium of Light with genuine belief that they can add to their rivals’ woe and create real doubts over Eddie Howe’s future.

As well as what is sure to be a raucous atmosphere, Newcastle will also be faced with overcoming their bafflingly terrible recent record against Sunderland.

The Magpies have failed to win any of the last nine meetings between the sides, with their last victory coming in August 2011 under Alan Pardew.

Fatigue and a crippling list of absentees are always added as caveats when discussing Newcastle’s troubling form over a busy winter. But they cannot be used as excuses if they fall to another defeat at Sunderland.

Even with their list of injured and suspended players, Newcastle’s squad contains far greater quality than that of their second-tier opponents.

A defeat would be the most damaging of Howe’s tenure at St James’ Park and, with Premier League fixtures against Manchester City and Aston Villa next up, the future would begin to look very bleak indeed for the manager if his side’s final hopes of silverware were extinguished by their greatest rivals.
Joe Shread

FA Cup last chance for Man Utd success

Wigan vs Man Utd – Monday, 8.15pm

Eighth in the Premier League and nine points off the top four. A fourth-round Carabao Cup exit and rock-bottom Champions League finish. It has been a miserable season for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag, but they have one last chance to save it.

The FA Cup represents United’s only hope of winning silverware under the Dutchman this year and, on paper at least, they have a straightforward passage to the next round. There are tougher opponents than Wigan Athletic – a team sitting 17th in League One – but it would be foolish to write them off given United’s inconsistency this term.

Ten Hag’s side have lost 14 of their 28 games in all competitions and will be in unfamiliar territory when they make the short journey to the DW Stadium on Monday night. It will be their first away domestic cup tie since March 2021 – that alone poses a psychological challenge.

Throw in the fact that Wigan have progressed from more FA Cup ties against Premier League opponents than any other club from outside the top division in the last 10 years – as well as winning their previous five FA Cup games played on a Monday – and the signs suggest a potential upset could be on the cards.

Ten Hag still has some credit in the back after delivering United’s first trophy in six years and finishing third in the Premier League during his debut campaign, but he cannot afford to let his team’s dismal form in the second half of 2023 continue into 2024.

Now, under the watchful eye of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS, the pressure to perform is greater than ever. Winning the FA Cup is the very least he and United must achieve to make this season some sort of success.
Dan Sansom

Where’s the best chance of an upset?

Stoke vs Brighton – Saturday, 3pm; Luton vs Bolton – Sunday, 2pm; West Ham vs Bristol City – Sunday, 2pm

Many of the FA Cup’s most iconic moments have been written by plucky underdogs, and there are plenty of opportunities for cup upsets this weekend with 12 of the 20 Premier League entrants facing lower-league opposition.

With a Europa League knock-out run to come, hopes of a repeat performance in 2023/24 and an injury crisis across the squad, Brighton will be a clear target for Championship strugglers Stoke, who have slowly begun to turn their season around in recent weeks.

Roberto De Zerbi’s absentee list has hit his squad so severely, both Adam Webster and Pervis Estupinan started Tuesday’s game at West Ham despite their manager admitting neither were physically fit.

New Potters boss Stephen Schumacher is unbeaten in his four games in charge at the Bet365 Stadium, and held high-flying Ipswich to a goalless draw on New Year’s Day.

They will have hopes of taking Brighton back to the Amex at the very least, while Bolton will likewise believe they can get something from Kenilworth Road when they travel to Luton on Sunday.

The Trotters are second in League One and have won their last four games, with 16-goal striker Dion Charles reportedly a target for a number of Championship clubs.

With Rob Edwards’ side a point from safety in the Premier League and facing a real battle in the second half of the season, a cup run will be the last thing on his mind – expect changes, and perhaps an upset in Bedfordshire.

Championship Bristol City have been in fine form under Liam Manning over the festive period, taking 10 points from their last five and will take more than 8,000 fans to West Ham on Sunday.

They reached the fifth round last season before bowing out to Manchester City, but have only beaten one Premier League opposition in this competition since costing Graeme Souness his role as Liverpool boss all the way back in 1994.

With the Hammers’ two-week winter break coming directly after the game, former City centre-back David Moyes may be tempted to field a strong side, similar to the one which drew 0-0 with Brighton on Tuesday – and West Ham have good form in the third round, having only gone out at this stage once in the last decade.
Ron Walker