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FA Cup third round and Afcon quarter finals — you didn't have other plans for the weekend did you?

Seven great matches to take you from Friday to Sunday. It’s the Sound of Football Weekend Boxset.

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All times are UK

Friday

Africa Cup of Nations 2025 quarter-final: Cameroon v Morocco

19.00 on E4 and All4
Given the lack of time all the teams have had to prepare for this tournament, it’s hardly surprising that the hosts and favourites haven’t been strolling through the competition as many would have thought. Having reached a World Cup semi-final in Qatar three years ago, the pressure is on Morocco to win but this is a tournament where historically they’ve had little success. It’s been 50 years of hurt since their only title in 1976 and a win here would see the Atlas Lions reach the semi-final for the first time since they were runners up in 2004. With Ashraf Hakimi injured for the start of the tournament, it has been Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz who has been the host’s star player, scoring in every match so far. Having only played for 27 minutes in the group stage, Hakimi played the full 90 in the round of 16 win over Tanzania and provide the assist for Brahim’s winner. Cameroon won the title as recently as 2017. The Indomitable Lions have made comfortable progress so far and would have won their group were it not for a sensational comeback from Ivory Coast in their final group game against Gabon. 19 year old Leverkusen striker Christian Kofane is having an excellent tournament, scoring in Cameroon’s last two games. It has been reported that Egyptian Amin Mohamed Omar was to be the referee for this game but the Moroccan FA protested as he would have been assisted by three Algerians — one on the touchline and two in the VAR booth. Mauritanian referee Dahane Biede, is now due to take charge. The winners of this will go on to play either Algeria or Nigeria, whose quarter final Terry previews below. GS

The first quarter final, Mali v Senegal, precedes this game kicking off at 16.00.

Saturday

FA Cup third round: Macclesfield v Crystal Palace

12.15 on BBC One & iPlayer, TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate and Discovery Plus
Who’s got the feels for a cupset? Macclesfield FC, of the National League North, secured a third-round berth after a dramatic win at National League South, Slough Town. The home side went down to ten after 66 minutes and the game was won in extra time. Two belters from James Edmondson and Regan Griffiths set up the Silkmen’s biggest game since its foundation as a phoenix club after the original Macclesfield Town folded in 2020. The coach is John Rooney, brother of Wayne who, at 35, is making his first step into club management. His assistant is Francis Jeffers who Everton and Arsenal fans will remember as a decent striker albeit injury prone. The pay-out from a TV game plus a full house against the FA Cup holders will do wonders for the club’s finances and long-term ambitions. While their opponents are a much better side, Crystal Palace are winless in eight games. The concentration of European games, Cup ties and league matches has taken its toll on a relatively small squad. Daniel Munoz, Chris Richards, and Daichi Kamada are injured and Ismaila Sarr is at Afcon. However, new signing Brennan Johnson’s is making an impact and the cup holders were much improved against Villa on Wednesday. In view of the consequences of defeat I imagine Oliver Glasner will field as full strength a side as he dares. A Macclesfield win would be a great moment in FA Cup history but could seriously derail Palace’s season. The match will be tinged with great sadness after the tragic death of Macclesfield striker Ethan McLeod who perished in a car accident on 16 December. TD

Africa Cup of Nations 2025 quarter-final: Algeria v Nigeria

16.00 on E4 and All4
So far, this Afcon has gone according to the form book with the top-ranked sides qualifying from the group stages and no obvious drama that characterised the last edition. And while it’s dangerous to single out a clear favourite once the tournament is underway, there seems to be no stopping Nigeria right now. The Super Eagles have a 100% record in the tournament and have scored a whopping twelve goals in four games. The 4-0 win over Mozambique in the round of sixteen was emphatic and you must ask yourself how this squad could have failed to qualify for the World Cup. Victor Osimhen scored a brace but Player of the Match was Ademola Lookman with two assists and a goal. The Wandsworth born striker is second joint top scorer of the tournament with three and the leading assist maker with four. Algeria were convincing winners of their group, beating Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Equatorial Guinea. However, the Desert Foxes were kept at bay by DR Congo in the last round. Their group stage xG had been around two per game but dropped to 0.7. The Congolese plan to catch their opponents in transition waiting for penalties backfired in the final knockings of extra time when substitute Adil Boulbina dipped in a worldie off the crossbar with seconds on the clock. I can imagine that this game may start cagey with each team respecting the other’s attack but suspect that Nigeria will eventually try to outscore the opposition. This could be a classic. TD

The fourth quarter final, Egypt v Ivory Coast, follows this game kicking off at 19.00.

FA Cup third round: Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa

17.45 on BBC One & iPlayer, TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate and Discovery Plus
A welcome break from the trials and tribulations of the Premier League for both of these clubs. The home side are enduring yet another crisis of a season, this time under Thomas Frank, who has so far failed to get any kind of tune out of the bin fire that is Tottenham. A promising start in their last match ended in a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth where Antoine Semenyo broke their hearts in the 95th minute. They sit 14th in the Premier League and, while they probably won’t be relegated, the FA Cup presents their only real chance of silverware. Not that they’re going to get it; having watched them last week, my take-away was that they have great players, but are a poor team. They may have won the famous old trophy an impressive eight times, but by the time this year’s winners hold it aloft, it’s likely Frank will either be a TV pundit or at another club. No such heartache for Unai Emery and the Villa; they’re flying high, making their poor start to the season nothing more than a distant memory. A frustrating draw at Palace in midweek saw them miss out on second place, which would have been nice to take into this match. Despite the bookies’ puzzling 18/1 odds to win the competition, in my mind, Villa should have enough to go all the way. Their recent loss at table-topping Arsenal was the first since early November, and brought to an end a run of eleven straight victories. Men against boys, you might think. Well, if this was a league game, maybe. But this is the FA Cup, so anything can happen. JB

Sunday

FA Cup third round: Portsmouth v Arsenal

14.00 on TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate and Discovery Plus
When Arsenal last played Portsmouth it was in this competition in 2020, just a week before the first lockdown. Arsenal won 2-0 at Fratton Park and would eventually go on to win the Cup at an empty Wembley in August. That was Arteta’s first and only trophy so far but much is expected from this campaign. The hectic Christmas and New Year schedule doesn’t let up for the Premier League leaders as this game is the first of four away matches across four competitions over the next ten days. The Champions League tie against Inter provides an opportunity for the Gunners to rotate, having already as good as secured a top eight place (though there is further advantage in holding on to a top two position) but with a League Cup semi-final against Chelsea coming up in midweek, Arteta is likely to make many changes to the side that started the stalemate with Liverpool on Thursday. In contrast, Pompey haven’t played in ten days with last weekend’s Championship match against Ipswich being postponed. The break has come as a good time for John Mousinho’s side who have a number of players on the treatment table. A hammering at Ashton Gate on New Years Day ended an unbeaten run of four games that had lifted Pompey just above the relegation line. It all suggests that an upset is unlikely but this Arsenal side have won just two FA Cup ties in the five seasons since they last won the trophy, so anything could happen. GS

FA Cup third round: Manchester United v Brighton & Hove Albion

16.30 on TNT Sports 1 & Ultimate and Discovery Plus
Do a nice gentle preview of United’s FA Cup match, said the overlords at SoF. Should be your fairly standard fayre, United on the box again, Amorim’s dogmatic formations, yadda yadda yadda. But no. The footballing gods have decreed that this fixture moves from a mildly diverting all Premier League match up to something quite intriguing. Darren Fletcher will once again be in the dugout before relinquishing control to another United alumni, likely to be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (more like Lol-e Gunnar Solksjaer, amirite!) or Michael Carrick as United’s boardroom twirl their bow-ties, Laurel and Hardy-style, and proclaim this is another fine mess they’ve got themselves into. And yet zoom out and United are not having a terrible season relative to the depths they plumbed in 24/25. United’s seventh place, above Chelsea, may say more about the teams beneath them than United’s own prowess, and they’ve managed to turn a lot of matches that probably would have been losses last season into draws, which is progress of sorts in the same sort of way that England only discovered how to play test cricket long after the Ashes were lost. But there does appear to be a semblance of a team at Old Trafford and when United click, which admittedly isn’t very often, there’s a pleasing fluency in attack. Facing them are a Brighton side who when they’re good, they’re very good and when they’re bad they’re dreadful. There’s really no consistency to the Seagulls at the moment, and it’s hard to know what side will turn up in Manchester. Given Brighton almost certainly aren’t going down and are unlikely to get into Europe, it’d make sense to have a crack at the cup, especially with United in a state of flux. This being modern football, it would be no surprise for Fabian Hurzeler to put out a second string side, bemoan chances not taken, and everyone moves on. All of this is a lot of words that essentially can be summed up as “who knows.” Could be entertaining, could be a stinker. Who knows. GA

Serie A: Inter v Napoli

19.45 on TNT Sports and DAZN
After what was a very tight table towards the end of 2025, a gap has started to emerge. A small one, perhaps, but Inter are starting to put a little bit of daylight between themselves and the chasing pack, of which Napoli are one. Christian Chivu’s side are four points ahead of I Partenopei, who really need a result at the San Siro if they're to be contenders for a second successive Scudetto. An Inter victory would create a tough seven point gap. What’s more, the teams jockeying for the title chase all have relatively straightforward ties against lower table opposition. It's not inconceivable that Napoli could end the weekend in fifth with Como breathing down their necks. Inter have found a rich vein of form and while Napoli are more than capable of putting impressive runs together, they have a habit of slipping up against tricky but not insurmountable opponents like Bologna and Udinese. Antonio Conte, of the permanently exploding touchline demeanour, won't have any problems getting his charges up for this match, but it's a very different, more confident Inter than the side Napoli saw off 3-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in October. It’s a rare weekend that Serie A doesn't have a title-significant match at the moment, but this game feels like it could eliminate Napoli from title contention if they can’t come away with at least a point. GA


Whatever you watch, Happy New Year.

Graham, Terry, Jan and Gary