England seek Six Nations redemption

ENGLAND led last year's Six Nations almost all the way through - until Wales prevailed easily in a final match showdown at the Millennium Stadium.

The motivation for England to win only a second Six Nations title since 2003 could therefore not be clearer.

But this year's competition begins with another tough trip for Stuart Lancaster's men - in Paris against a French side still licking their wounds from an awful 2013.

France finished bottom of the Six Nations table for the first time since its inception in 2000, and won just two matches in the whole calendar year.

It would be a surprise if Les Bleus were that bad again, though. Indeed, in keeping with their mercurial reputation, they could very well win the whole thing, particularly as this tournament is in the year following a Lions tour.

France have won all of the Five or Six Nations championships in the year after a Lions tour since the start of the professional era. Wales, in 1994, was the last time a Home Nation topped the table on the back of those particularly exertions.

And, as far as the bookmakers are concerned, the Welsh are also the most likely to end this statistical quirk in a genuinely golden era for union in the Principality.

Last year's record 30-3 thumping of England resulted in a second successive championship following a glorious third Grand Slam in eight years in 2012.

Notably, the other Grand Slams, in 2005 and 2008, were not followed up with victory in the following year's competition, showing just how difficult it can be to retain the title.

No team has won three Six Nations championships in a row, and the bookmakers may well be wrong given that the Welsh have two of their tougher tests away, at Twickenham and in Dublin.

Of all the sides competing, Ireland are maybe the most fascinating under their recently-appointed Kiwi coach Josef Schmidt.

In his first matches in the autumn, Ireland produced inconsistency in performance which would have befitted even the French as they followed up a wretched display in defeat to Australia with a magnificent one against New Zealand.

Ultimately, that would still end in an agonising 22-24 reverse, as Ryan Crotty's last-minute try and Aaron Cruden's conversion ensured the All Blacks would become the first team ever in the professional era to win all their matches in a calendar year.

But Ireland can take a lot of heart from those 80 minutes and much, it seems, will depend on what sort of momentum they can take to Twickenham from their home match against Wales on the second match-day.

This leaves Scotland and Italy, the only two countries not to have won the Six Nations since it began 14 years ago.

Both of them made decent progress last time, finishing third and fourth respectively, with two wins apiece, bringing an end to five consecutive years of the pair filling the bottom two. 

The aim then for the Scots and the Italians is also clear: to pull off those sort of results again. Otherwise, 2013 will be seen as no more than aberration.

And so, each of the six teams have plenty of motivation going into what always turns out to be a truly fascinating contest and a genuine highlight of the sporting calendar.

England have Wales at home - but, by then, they will have already travelled away to France and Scotland.

Wales will be aiming for a third championship in a row - but must head to Twickenham and Dublin, where the Irish players have a new coach to impress.

Meanwhile, France surely cannot do as badly as last year  - or perhaps they will, given the absence to injury of captain Thierry Dusautoir.

With just over 18 months to go until the World Cup, Scotland and Italy are unlikely to find the other four teams quite as generous this time.

And so my title tip has to be with England to edge out Wales with France in third, Ireland in fourth, and Italy returning to their traditional wooden spoon position.

Of course, the nature of the competition means that this prediction could be blown out of the water by week three, particularly with England travelling away twice.

Interestingly, none of the Six Nations tournaments has ended with the teams all finishing in exactly the same position in successive years.

Just what order will they shuffle into this time?

RBS 6 NATIONS TABLE 2013
How they finished last year. (T) Tries.

	W	D	L	F	A	(T)	Pts
WALES	4	0	1	122	66	9	9
ENGLAND	4	0	1	94	78	5	9
SCOTLAND	2	0	3	98	107	7	4
ITALY	2	0	3	75	111	5	4
IRELAND	1	1	3	72	81	5	3
FRANCE	1	1	3	73	91	6	3

TEAM-BY-TEAM GUIDE Odds from Ladbrokes

ENGLAND Odds 5/2	Coach Stuart Lancaster Captain Chris Robshaw
Twickenham	Fixtures France (A), Scotland (A), Ireland (H), Wales (H), Italy (A)
IRB Rank: 4	Six Nations titles 4 (2000, 2001, 2003, 2011)
FRANCE Odds 9/4	Coach Philippe Saint-Andre Captain Pascal Papé (for Thierry Dusautoir)
Stade de France	Fixtures England (H), Italy (H), Wales (A), Scotland (A), Ireland (H)
IRB Rank: 5	Six Nations titles 5 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010)
IRELAND Odds 5/1	Coach Joe Schmidt Captain Paul O'Connell
Aviva Stadium	Fixtures Scotland (H), Wales (H), England (A), Italy (H), France (A)
IRB Rank: 7	Six Nations titles 1 (2009)
ITALY Odds 200/1	Coach Jacques Brunel Captain Sergio Parisse
Stadio Olimpico	Fixtures Wales (A), France (A), Scotland (H), Ireland (A), England (H)
IRB Rank: 13	Six Nations titles None
SCOTLAND Odds 40/1	Coach Scott Johnson (interim) Captain Kelly Brown
Murrayfield	Fixtures Ireland (A), England (H), Italy (A), France (H), Wales (A)
IRB Rank: 9	Six Nations titles None
WALES Odds 2/1fav	Coach Warren Gatland Captain Sam Warburton
Millennium Stadium	Fixtures Italy (H), Ireland (A), France (H), England (A), Scotland (H)
IRB Rank: 6	Six Nations titles 4 (2005, 2008, 2012, 2013)

RBS 6 NATIONS FIXTURES 2014
All matches live on the BBC. All kick-off times GMT.

1 Feb 14:30	WALES 23-15 ITALY	Millennium Stadium
1 Feb 17:00	FRANCE 26-24 ENGLAND	Stade de France
2 Feb 15:00	IRELAND 28-6 SCOTLAND	Aviva Stadium
8 Feb 14:30	IRELAND 26-3 WALES	Aviva Stadium
8 Feb 17:00	SCOTLAND 0-20 ENGLAND	Murrayfield
9 Feb 15:00	FRANCE 30-10 ITALY	Stade de France
21 Feb 20:00	WALES 27-6 FRANCE	Millennium Stadium
22 Feb 13:30	ITALY 20-21 SCOTLAND	Stadio Olimpico
22 Feb 16:00	ENGLAND 13-10 IRELAND	Twickenham
8 Mar 14:30	IRELAND 46-7 ITALY	Aviva Stadium
8 Mar 17:00	SCOTLAND 17-19 FRANCE	Murrayfield
9 Mar 15:00	ENGLAND 29-18 WALES	Twickenham
15 Mar 12:30	ITALY 11-52 ENGLAND	Stadio Olimpico
15 Mar 14:45	WALES v SCOTLAND	Millennium Stadium
15 Mar 17:00	FRANCE v IRELAND	Stade de France

The Ashes 2013/14 stats: Complete Aussie dominance from just 11 men

THE ASHES 2013/14: AUSTRALIA WON 5-0                                                           Preview

21-24 Nov	FIRST: Australia 295 & 401-7d beat England 136 & 179 by 381 runs	Brisbane
5-9 Dec	SECOND: Australia 570-9d & 132-3d bt England 172 & 312 by 218 runs	Adelaide
13-17 Dec	THIRD: Australia 385 & 369-6d beat England 251 & 353 by 150 runs	Perth
26-29 Dec	FOURTH: Australia 204 & 231-2 beat England 255 & 179 by eight wkts	Melbourne
3-5 Jan	FIFTH: Australia 326 & 276 beat England 155 & 166 by 281 runs	Sydney

Man of the series: Mitchell Johnson (37 wickets at 13.97)

ENGLAND arrived in Australia in November seeking a fourth successive Ashes series win but ended it having to face up to a shameful whitewash.

In between, Alastair Cook's team were out-thought, out-fought and simply out-classed in every facet of the game. It was a pathetic, humiliating surrender of the urn.

Even the great Aussie era of Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne surely did not find their Ashes series this easy. Even the dreadful whitewash seven years ago resembled more of a contest.

For a start, not one of the matches in this series was close. The margins of victory - 381 runs, 281 runs, 218 runs, 150 runs and eight wickets - were all absolutely massive and a complete embarrassment for England.

Now, reflecting on the campaign as a whole, it is obvious that, of all their issues, the tourists' biggest problem came with the bat.

Actually, as coach Andy Flower has since acknowledged, this was not just something new. Throughout their double success last summer - a 2-0 win over New Zealand and a 3-0 Ashes triumph - England had failed to make 400 once.

Down Under, there were few thoughts of anything like 400, given that the team failed to make even half that in six out of their 10 innings.

Most damagingly, England's best first innings total was 255 and their average knock was 193.8. This compares badly against the Aussies' best of 570-9 declared and team average of 356.

Overall, Australia scored over 1,000 more runs than England, and the biggest difference often came in how the tail approached their task.

Aided by wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, who boasted the best batting average at 61.62 and whose aggregate of 493 was beaten only by David Warner, the Aussie tail wagged throughout the series.

By contrast, England's last few men were regularly blown away by man of the series Mitchell Johnson.

The Queenslander's terrifying pace earned him 37 wickets at the brilliant average of 13.97, including three five-fers, each of which won him a Man of the Match award.

Johnson was ably assisted in the attack by workhorse Ryan Harris (22 wickets at 19.31), Peter Siddle (16 at 24.12), and the off-spin of Nathan Lyon who took 19 wickets at an average under 30.

And, out of the England players who played more than one Test, only Stuart Broad from the England ranks got anywhere near that standard.

James Anderson was a shadow of his former self and Tim Bresnan - who took just five scalps - was down on pace throughout.

Meanwhile, things got so bad for off-spinner Graeme Swann that he retired once the Ashes had been lost in Perth, having taken seven wickets at the monstrous average of 80.

But, even in the face of some unavoidable changes, England's line-up rapidly became a confused mess.

In all, 18 of the 19 players originally taken on tour featured at some point with Steven Finn the only man to miss out.

Fellow giant bowlers Chris Tremlett and debutant Boyd Rankin played just one Test apiece, and the trio became labelled the Tallest Drinks Waiters in the world.

There were debuts also in the series for Ben Stokes, England only centurion who also took a six-fer in the fifth Test, Scott Borthwick who impressed with ball more than bat, and Gary Ballance.

Ballance arrived at the crease at 17-4, only a marginally better position than his Yorkshire predecessor Michael Vaughan who made his debut at 2-4 against South Africa in 1999.

England, who were in transition then just as they clearly are now, lost that match in Johannesburg badly.

But Vaughan learned a lot from his baptism of fire and he became a hugely successful captain with a positive mindset like Aussie skipper Michael Clarke rather than the negative run-saving approach favoured by Cook.

Can Cook change his ways and revitalise England? Will he even get the chance and, that said, does he deserve it?

Certainly, at this stage, a change of at the top would favour England whose defensive nature actually seems to stem directly from Flower.

As successful as he has been in the past, the Zimbabwean's meticulous approach to matches now appears to be getting less and less attention from his players who are perhaps tired of hearing what they are going to do to stop the opposition.

Since his appointment last year, Australia coach Darren Lehmann has restored the self-belief of his squad, and Johnson in particular, by concentrating on their own strengths instead.

It has worked better than Lehmann could ever imagined and, indeed, easily the most remarkable statistic of all is that the hosts used the same 11 players all the way through the series.

Several of them had been derided and written off in the fairly recent past.

But now 'the Unchangeables', as they have been dubbed, are part of a truly legendary moment in Australian cricket history as only the third team to complete an Ashes whitewash.

Through slightly embittered English teeth then, I must congratulate skipper Clarke and his men for a phenomenal campaign, and just hope that it will surely be closer next time... won't it?

THE ASHES 2013/14: A STATISTICAL PERSPECTIVE

TEAM SCORES
570-9dec Australia in the second Test, Adelaide  
401-7dec Australia in the first Test, Brisbane
385 Australia in the third Test, Perth
369-6dec Australia in the third Test, Perth
353 England in the third Test, Perth
326 Australia in the fifth Test, Sydney
312 England in the second Test, Adelaide
295 Australia in the first Test, Brisbame
276 Australia in the fifth Test, Sydney
255 England in the fourth Test, Melbourne
251 England in the third Test, Perth
231-2dec Australia in fourth Test, Melbourne
204 Australia in the fourth Test, Melbourne
179 England in the first Test, Brisbane
179 England in the fourth Test, Melbourne
172 England in the second Test, Adelaide
166 England in the fifth Test, Sydney
155 England in the fifth Test, Sydney
136 England in the first Test, Brisbane
132-3dec Australia in the second Test, Adelaide 

TEAM AGGREGATES
Runs scored Australia 3189, England 2158
Wickets taken Australia 100, England 77

BATTING
BEST AVERAGES
61.62 Brad Haddin (Australia)
58.11 David Warner (Australia)
46.30 Chris Rogers (Australia)
40.87 Steve Smith (Australia)
40.33 Michael Clarke (Australia)
38.33 Shane Watson (Australia)
34.87 Ben Stokes (England)
29.40 Kevin Pietersen (England)
28.10 Michael Carberry (England)
27.50 Mitchell Johnson (Australia) 
27.42 Joe Root (England)
26.14 George Bailey (Australia)
26.11 Ian Bell (England)
24.60 Alastair Cook (England) 
23.40 Ryan Harris (Australia)
19.37 Stuart Broad (England)

HIGHEST RUN SCORERS (minimum 200 runs)
523 David Warner (Australia)
493 Brad Haddin (Australia)
463 Chris Rogers (Australia)
363 Michael Clarke (Australia)
345 Shane Watson (Australia)
327 Steve Smith (Australia)
294 Kevin Pietersen (England)
281 Michael Carberry (England)
279 Ben Stokes (England)
246 Alastair Cook (England)
235 Ian Bell (England)

CENTURIES
Australia 10-1 England
148 Michael Clarke (Australia), second Test
124 David Warner (Australia), first Test
120 Ben Stokes (England), third Test
119 Chris Rogers (Australia), fifth Test
118 Brad Haddin (Australia), second Test
116 Chris Rogers (Australia), fourth Test
115 Steve Smith (Australia), fifth Test
113 Michael Clarke (Australia), first Test
112 David Warner (Australia), third Test
111 Steve Smith (Australia), third Test
103 Shane Watson (Australia), third Test

BOWLING
BEST AVERAGES
13.97 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
19.31 Ryan Harris (Australia)
20.50 Scott Borthwick (England)
24.12 Peter Siddle (Australia)
27.52 Stuart Broad (England)
29.36 Nathan Lyon (Australia) 
30.00 Chris Tremlett (England)
30.50 Shane Watson (Australia)
32.80 Ben Stokes (England)
41.20 Tim Bresnan (England)
43.92 James Anderson (England)

WICKET TAKERS
37 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
22 Ryan Harris (Australia)
21 Stuart Broad (England)
19 Nathan Lyon (Australia)
16 Peter Siddle (Australia)
15 Ben Stokes (England)
14 James Anderson (England)
7 Graeme Swann (England)
5 Tim Bresnan (England)
4 Scott Borthwick (England), Chris Tremlett (England), Shane Watson (Australia)
3 Monty Panesar (England)
1 Steve Smith (Australia), Boyd Rankin (England)

FIVE-WICKET HAULS
Australia 5-2 England
7-40 Mitchell Johnson (Australia), second Test
6-81 Stuart Broad (England), first Test
6-99 Ben Stokes (England), fifth Test
5-25 Ryan Harris (Australia), fifth Test
5-42 Mitchell Johnson (Australia), first Test
5-50 Nathan Lyon (Australia), fourth Test
5-63 Mitchell Johnson (Australia), fourth Test

The Ashes 2013/14: Australia complete the whitewash

Australia 326 & 276 beat England 155 & 166 by 281 runs Scorecard
Man of the match: Ryan Harris (5-25)

AUSTRALIA completed a 5-0 whitewash of pitiful England with a 281-run thumping inside three days at the SCG in Sydney.

Michael Clarke's men thus repeated the feat achieved by previous Australian captains Warwick Armstrong in 1920-21 and Ricky Ponting in 2006-07.

But the last six weeks have been particularly difficult to take for England with them having come into the contest with the upper hand after winning four of the past five series.

That it was going to be different this time was not immediately apparent.

England reduced the Aussies to 132-6 on the first day of the first Test in Brisbane but Brad Haddin then staged a recovery to get the hosts 295.

Haddin's batting with the lower order was something which would become a feature of the entire campaign with England, at times, actually getting themselves into good positions with the ball.

However, the other decisive recurrence would be England's inability to cope with the ferocity of Mitchell Johnson fast bowling.

The tail struggled in particular but all too often they were left trying to pick up the pieces of the failures of England's ever-changing and broken top order.

And it is why the results show England getting bowled out for less than 200 on six out of the 10 innings having last made 400 in a Test against New Zealand in March.

Indeed, in Adelaide in the second Test, Alastair Cook's men finished the first innings a massive 398 behind on the way to a 218-run defeat while the performance in Perth was only a smidgen better.

Nevertheless, defeat at the WACA meant that the Ashes had been lost and it was not even Christmas.

Still, though, surely England could restore some pride in Melbourne, as an unbeaten opening partnership between Cook and Michael Carberry took them to 65-0 for a lead of 116.

Alas, no. England then lost three men for one run and also their last five wickets for six runs to collapse to 179 all out on the most humiliating day of the series of all. Australia then knocked off the 231 runs required without breaking sweat.

That, it seemed, was England's best chance gone.

Even then, though, there was even some hope going into this last match with three players on debut - Gary Ballance, Scott Borthwick, and Boyd Rankin - for the first time since Nagpur in India in 2006.

Back then, current captain Cook was one of the starlings, and he helped his new charges here by winning his first toss of the series and electing to bowl on a green-top surface.

England subsequently made early inroads as the Aussies felt the heat at 97-5.

But back again came Haddin, his 75 assisting a Steve Smith's century as Australia made 326 and took the early wicket of Carberry to leave England 8-1 at the close of day one.

Cook (7) resumed on day two but lasted just two balls before padding up to a plumb lbw, and Bell should have then been out first ball but for a badly dropped catch by Shane Watson in the slips.

No matter. Chances were coming along with such frequency for Australia, it was hardly as if there was going to be much of a wait for another one.

Nightwatchman James Anderson made a brave seven runs before edging to Clarke in the slips off Johnson.

And, by the time Peter Siddle accounted for Bell (2) and Ryan Harris for Kevin Pietersen (3), England were 23-5. This humiliating series had produced another chapter.

Thankfully, England went on to scramble past their lowest total (45) against Australia, mainly down to the efforts of Ben Stokes (47) who, as the tourists' only centurion in this campaign, can still hold his head up high.

Ballance also did well to support Stokes for a while, considering he came in at 17-4, while Stuart Broad - England's best bowler Down Under - belatedly showed some form with the bat, hitting 30 not out.

Last man Rankin made 13, still more than Cook, Carberry, Bell and Pietersen combined, as England were bowled out for 155 on the stroke of tea.

By stumps on day two, the Aussie lead was up to 311 despite four successes for the England bowlers - and by lunch on the third day, Chris Rogers was celebrating his second ton of the series to make it an incredible 10-1 in centuries to Australia.

In a moment of high farce in the field, Rogers tickled the ball to third man for three and - thanks to a wild throw from wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow - ended up with seven, a score off one ball equivalent to anything the England top five could muster in their entire innings.

It was just a small, relatively insignificant occurrence in the grand scheme of things - but that moment perfectly summed up exactly where these two teams are right now. 

To their credit, the England's bowlers nibbled away at the other end, and even Haddin could only make a relatively paltry 28 before being bowled by debutant Borthwick.

The Durham leg-spinner also ended Rogers' assault with an excellent caught and bowled, and took his third wicket when Harris picked out Carberry at deep midwicket.

Siddle was the last man out, caught behind by Bairstow off Rankin for the Irishman's first Test wicket, and England had a nominal target of 448 runs to win.

Realistically, the only doubtful outcome was whether England still had enough about them to take the match into a fourth day.

Quite appropriately perhaps, the answer was no.

Instead, England were bundled out for 166 in just 31 overs, by far their fastest scoring rate of the series, a team clearly desperate for it all to end.

Harris took the final wicket to spark wild celebrations on Pink Day in Sydney, designated in support of Jane McGrath, the late wife of the legendary Aussie fast-bowler Glenn.

And so, with Harris's efforts, Australia also outscored England in terms of five-wicket hauls - not in as clear-cut a fashion as with the centuries - but still by five to two.

Of course, the most important score is the one overall: 5-0 - a completely deserved triumph for Australia who have now won more individual Ashes Tests since the start of the 2005 series than England.

That is, of course, largely down to the two whitewashes in seven years - and, just as heads rolled in 2007 so should they this time as well.

Incredibly, it might not happen with ECB chief executive David Collier giving his backing to coach Andy Flower even before the series was over.

Yes, the Zimbabwean still has an excellent record with England but it is one which should be cherished and kept, not further besmirched.

All eras come to an end and this one has been sounding the death knell for weeks now. It is time to move on and hopefully away from the cycle of boom and bust.

Just as previous coach Duncan Fletcher enjoyed the boom-times of an unbeaten 2004 followed by a first Ashes win in 2005, Flower can be proud to have overseen three Ashes victories and a historic triumph in India during his tenure.

But Fletcher's bubble burst with the previous Ashes whitewash being followed up by an under-par World Cup performance in which he appeared throughout to be a lame duck - and compatriot Flower now, too, is a busted flush.

The final word, though, must go to the Australians who arrived in England at the start of last summer in a crisis, having changed their coach just two weeks before the series.

Consequently, they lost 3-0 after a terrible start but, even then, they gradually improved.

Back Down Under, with that new coach Darren Lehmann, they have been a totally different beast, and man of the series Johnson has been completely reinvigorated.

Previously a joke figure, Johnson now holds the Ashes record for the most wickets by a left-arm bowler in a series.

So mighty congratulations to Johnson and Australia - what a turnaround! We shall, of course, meet again in 2015 with hopefully a different set-up and a much-changed team.

THE ASHES 2013/14: AUSTRALIA WON 5-0

21-24 Nov	FIRST: Australia 295 & 401-7d beat England 136 & 179 by 381 runs	Brisbane
5-9 Dec	SECOND: Australia 570-9d & 132-3d bt England 172 & 312 by 218 runs	Adelaide
13-17 Dec	THIRD: Australia 385 & 369-6d beat England 251 & 353 by 150 runs	Perth
26-29 Dec	FOURTH: Australia 204 & 231-2 beat England 255 & 179 by eight wkts	Melbourne
3-5 Jan	FIFTH: Australia 326 & 276 beat England 155 & 166 by 281 runs	Sydney

Man of the series: Mitchell Johnson (37 wickets at 13.97)

CENTURIES
148 Michael Clarke (Australia), second Test
124 David Warner (Australia), first Test
120 Ben Stokes (England), third Test
119 Chris Rogers (Australia), fifth Test
118 Brad Haddin (Australia), second Test
116 Chris Rogers (Australia), fourth Test
115 Steve Smith (Australia), fifth Test
113 Michael Clarke (Australia), first Test
112 David Warner (Australia), third Test
111 Steve Smith (Australia), third Test
103 Shane Watson (Australia), third Test

FIVE-WICKET HAULS
7-40 Mitchell Johnson (Australia), second Test
6-81 Stuart Broad (England), first Test
6-99 Ben Stokes (England), fifth Test
5-25 Ryan Harris (Australia), fifth Test
5-42 Mitchell Johnson (Australia), first Test
5-50 Nathan Lyon (Australia), fourth Test
5-63 Mitchell Johnson (Australia), fourth Test

FA Cup Third Round features North London clash

THE FA CUP Third Round draw provided a clear tie of the round with Premier League leaders Arsenal taking on North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates.

This cracking match will be screened live by ITV on Saturday at 5.15pm with Arsene Wenger's Gunners going in search of a first trophy since 2005 when they won the Cup in Cardiff by beating Manchester United on penalties.

Spurs have to go back even further for their last FA Cup triumph. It came in 1991, and they even beat Arsenal 3-1 on the way in a fabulous Wembley semi, but they have not even made a single appearance in an FA Cup Final since.

Indeed, Arsenal have won both of the ties staged since then, both of which were also semi finals, in 1993 and 2001 - and Wenger's men will start favourites for this contest too.

Nevertheless, new Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood has made an encouraging start, taking 10 points out of 12 over the festive period - though, remarkably, his appointment means that Spurs have now had 11 permanent managers since Wenger arrived in England in October 1996.

Will the Frenchman deal Sherwood his first blow on Saturday? Whatever happens, it promises to be an thrilling new chapter in the long-standing North London rivalry, anyway.

In the other television matches, a trio top-half Championship sides host Premier League opponents as the broadcasters go in search of an upset.

Blackburn Rovers host 2011 Cup winners Manchester City in the early Saturday match at 12.45pm on BT, while fourth-placed Derby County take on seven-time winners Chelsea at 2.15pm on Sunday, also on BT.

But it is the Rams' big East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest who probably have the biggest chance of making the headlines.

Forest take on struggling West Ham United at midday on Sunday, in a match to be shown live on ITV - and so perilous is the Hammers' position in the Premier League that manager Sam Allardyce has said he is going to abandon the cups, including the League Cup semi final next week.

If excitement beckons at the City Ground then, very few neutral observers will understand quite why Manchester United v Swansea was one of the ties picked for the telly - other than the obvious waffle about attracting viewing figures and advertisers.

Incredibly, the decision by BT now makes it 42 consecutive FA Cup matches on the box for the Red Devils.

And, on this occasion, it also means there is no room on the television for the three remaining non-league teams, each of whom will be representing the Conference Premier.

In fairness to the television executives, none of those sides - Kidderminster Harriers, Macclesfield Town and Grimsby Town - exactly drew a plum tie, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, with all of them being drawn at home, all three will fancy their chances of causing an upset and progressing even further.

Also, if anything, the traditional Saturday 3pm kick-offs should ensure a raucous winter afternoon atmosphere at Aggborough, Moss Rose, and by the sea at Blundell Park.

Peterborough United, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town, respectively, will therefore have to be on their guard.

At the other end of the scale, outside of the television games, there are three other all-Premier League ties, featuring several clubs for whom a Cup run would be an ideal distraction from their struggles in the top flight.

Managerless West Bromwich Albion take on Tony Pulis's Crystal Palace at the Hawthorns while Norwich City welcome Fulham to Carrow Road.

The match to pique the most interest, though, is surely Cardiff City's visit to St James Park to take on Newcastle United under newly-appointed manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.

Bluebirds fans will be hoping the Norwegian ends weeks of turmoil under unpredictable Malaysian owner Vincent Tan by upsetting the odds against the Magpies.

It should be a tough ask, however. Newcastle, who have no concerns about this year about their own Premier League place, are due a decent FA Cup run, having not played outside of January in the competition since 2006.

Recent defeats have even come against the likes of Stevenage and Brighton & Hove Albion (twice), and it is high time that manager Alan Pardew improved on this particular record.

Tyne-Wear rivals Sunderland were also drawn at home, and hence play on Sunday at 2pm against Carlisle United.

The Cumbrians, who will be hopeful of an upset against the Premier League's bottom club, travel the relatively short distance of 70miles eastwards along the A69.

Meanwhile, the third North East club Middlesbrough have also got a home tie against a fairly nearby club in Hull City who will travel 112 miles up the coast.

For anyone seeking a spicy local match elsewhere, look no further than Rochdale v Leeds United at Spotland.

Only 33 miles separate the two clubs and this promises to be an exciting War of the Roses fight, and one in which Leeds boss Brian McDermott will have to be wary.

In the Midlands, Stoke City host Championship leaders Leicester City from just 63 miles away, with neither side able to boast about having won the competition.

The Potters were recent runners-up to Man City in 2011 while Leicester hold the unenviable record of the most finals appearances, four, without having ever succeeded.

Finally, in Lancashire, two clubs from the Championship - Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool - will stage a repeat of one of the most famous Wembley matches of all time.

In 1953, the Seasiders beat the Trotters 4-3 in what has been christened the Matthews Final, after Sir Stanley Matthews, whose exhilarating wing play prompted a comeback from 3-1 down.

Notably, it also remains the only Wembley FA Cup Final to feature a hat-trick, scored by Blackpool's Stan Mortensen with the winner coming from Bill Perry in stoppage time.

Another few ties like that this weekend will ensure the magic of the Cup keeps on bubbling for some time yet, regardless of what miserable Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert believes.

A full run-down of the Third Round fixtures can be found below:

FA CUP THIRD ROUND

Saturday 4 Jan
17:15 (ITV)	ARSENAL	2-0	TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
15:00	ASTON VILLA	1-2	SHEFFIELD UNITED
15:00	BARNSLEY	1-2	COVENTRY CITY
12:45 (BT)	BLACKBURN ROVERS	1-1	MANCHESTER CITY
15:00	BOLTON WANDERERS	2-1	BLACKPOOL
-	BOURNEMOUTH	P-P	BURTON ALBION
15:00	BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION	1-0	READING
15:00	BRISTOL CITY	1-1	WATFORD
-	CHARLTON ATHLETIC	P-P	OXFORD UNITED
15:00	DONCASTER ROVERS	2-3	STEVENAGE
15:00	EVERTON	4-0	QUEENS PARK RANGERS
15:00	GRIMSBY TOWN	2-3	HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
15:00	IPSWICH TOWN	1-1	PRESTON NORTH END
15:00	KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS	0-0	PETERBOROUGH UNITED
15:00	MACCLESFIELD TOWN	1-1	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
15:00	MIDDLESBROUGH	0-2	HULL CITY
15:00	NEWCASTLE UNITED	1-2	CARDIFF CITY
15:00	NORWICH CITY	1-1	FULHAM
15:00	ROCHDALE	2-0	LEEDS UNITED
15:00	SOUTHAMPTON	4-3	BURNLEY
15:00	SOUTHEND UNITED	4-1	MILLWALL
15:00	STOKE CITY	2-1	LEICESTER CITY
15:00	WEST BROMWICH ALBION	0-2	CRYSTAL PALACE
15:00	WIGAN ATHLETIC	3-3	MILTON KEYNES DONS
15:00	YEOVIL TOWN	4-0	LEYTON ORIENT
Sunday 5 Jan
14:15 (BT)	DERBY COUNTY	0-2	CHELSEA
15:00	LIVERPOOL	2-0	OLDHAM ATHLETIC
16:30 (BT)	MANCHESTER UNITED	1-2	SWANSEA CITY
12:00 (ITV)	NOTTINGHAM FOREST	5-0	WEST HAM UNITED
15:00	PORT VALE	2-2	PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
14:00	SUNDERLAND	3-1	CARLISLE UNITED
Tuesday 14 Jan
19:45	BOURNEMOUTH	4-1	BURTON ALBION
19:45	BIRMINGHAM CITY	3-0	BRISTOL ROVERS
19:45	CHARLTON ATHLETIC	2-2	OXFORD UNITED
REPLAYS
Tuesday 14 Jan
19:45 (BT)	FULHAM	3-0	NORWICH CITY
20:10 (ITV)	MANCHESTER CITY	5-0	BLACKBURN ROVERS	15 Jan
19:45	MILTON KEYNES DONS	1-3	WIGAN ATHLETIC	AET
19:45	PETERBOROUGH UNITED	2-3	KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS
19:45	PLYMOUTH ARGYLE	2-3	PORT VALE
19:45	PRESTON NORTH END	3-2	IPSWICH TOWN
19:45	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY	4-1	MACCLESFIELD TOWN
19:45	WATFORD	2-0	BRISTOL CITY
Tuesday 21 Jan
19:45	OXFORD UNITED	0-3	CHARLTON ATHLETIC

FA CUP FOURTH ROUND

Friday 24 Jan
19:45 (BT)	ARSENAL	4-0	COVENTRY CITY
20:00	NOTTINGHAM FOREST	0-0	PRESTON NORTH END
Saturday 25 Jan
15:00	BIRMINGHAM CITY	1-2	SWANSEA CITY
15:00	BOLTON WANDERERS	0-1	CARDIFF CITY
12:45 (ITV)	BOURNEMOUTH	0-2	LIVERPOOL
15:00	HUDDERSFIELD TOWN	0-1	CHARLTON ATHLETIC
15:00	MANCHESTER CITY	4-2	WATFORD
15:00	PORT VALE	1-3	BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
15:00	ROCHDALE	1-2	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
15:00	SOUTHAMPTON	2-0	YEOVIL TOWN
15:00	SOUTHEND UNITED	0-2	HULL CITY
17:30 (BT)	STEVENAGE	0-4	EVERTON
15:00	SUNDERLAND	1-0	KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS
15:00	WIGAN ATHLETIC	2-1	CRYSTAL PALACE
Sunday 26 Jan
13:00 (BT)	SHEFFIELD UNITED	1-1	FULHAM
15:30 (ITV)	CHELSEA	1-0	STOKE CITY

Fifth Round Draw Ties to be played 15-16 February
Manchester City v Chelsea
Sheffield United or Fulham v Nottingham Forest or Preston North End
Arsenal v Liverpool
Brighton & Hove Albion v Hull City
Cardiff City v Wigan Athletic
Sheffield Wednesday v Charlton Athletic
Sunderland v Southampton
Everton v Swansea City