FA Cup Third Round team news: Tottenham captain Cristian Romero suspended for Aston Villa tie with Antoine Semenyo set for Manchester City debut
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By Ben Grounds
Published 09/01/2026 at 22:59 GMT
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Selected team news across the Emirates FA Cup third-round fixtures as Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero is handed a one-game additional ban which rules the Argentine out of Spurs' home encounter with Aston Villa. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has also provided an update on defender Fabian Schar. Watch 22 of the FA Cup third-round encounters live on TNT Sports and discovery+ this weekend.
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Tottenham will host Aston Villa in their Emirates FA Cup third-round tie on Saturday evening without their captain Cristian Romero, after the centre-back had his three-match suspension extended.
Romero, who has also been fined ÂŁ50,000, will serve an additional one-game ban against Unai Emery's side after the defender admitted to an FA charge of "acting improperly by failing to leave the field of play promptly" after he was shown a red card during Spurs' 2-1 loss against Liverpool on December 20.
Meanwhile, Newcastle have suffered more defensive injury headaches ahead of taking on Bournemouth at St James' Park with Fabian Schar set for a period on the sidelines.
Manchester United face Brighton on Sunday - but interim boss Darren Fletcher doesn't expect the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final between Morocco and Cameroon on Friday to result in one of Noussair Mazraoui or Bryan Mbeumo being available, less than 48 hours later.
Fans will have 22 third-round clashes to sink their teeth into live on TNT Sports and discovery+, meaning you can watch every fixture that falls outside of the 15:00 Saturday blackout window. Here is the team news for the ties involving Premier League clubs taking place across the weekend...
Everton v Sunderland - Saturday, 12.15pm
Everton head into their tie against Sunderland without eight senior players. Michael Keane will begin a three-match suspension after the club lost an appeal against his red card for violent conduct, while Jack Grealish is also banned following a midweek dismissal.
Injuries continue to sideline Jarrad Branthwaite, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Seamus Coleman and Charly Alcaraz, while Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye remain away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal.
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Michael Keane will serve a three-match ban
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Wilson Isidor is a doubt for Sunderland having missed the defeat to Brentford with a minor injury. Black Cats boss Regis insists he will still look to field the strongest possible side.
"We will go strong whilst also balancing the load of our players," Le Bris said. "We don’t have a full picture of the squad yet, but we will select the best team possible."
Reinildo, Noah Sadiki, Bertrand Traore and Arthur Masuaku are all now back on Wearside after their involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations came to an end, and Le Bris expects "one or two" of them to be available for selection.
Macclesfield v Crystal Palace - Saturday, 12.15pm
Crystal Palace will be without Jean-Philippe Mateta for their FA Cup opener against Macclesfield, with the striker staying in London to rest.
Captain Marc Guehi is set to start despite ongoing transfer speculation, while Chris Richards, who returned to the squad against Aston Villa, is in line to feature as the holders begin the defence of their crown.
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Wolves v Shrewsbury - Saturday, 12.15pm
Wolves expect Ladislav Krejci, Jhon Arias and Hee Chan Hwang to be available for Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Shrewsbury despite all three picking up knocks in midweek.
There is also a boost for head coach Rob Edwards, with Rodrigo Gomes back in full training and pushing for minutes, although long-term absentees Marshall Munetsi, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Toti remain sidelined. Emmanuel Agbadou is still away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast.
Shrewsbury will be without Anthony Scully after his early injury against Bristol Rovers, while defenders Josh Ruffels and Tom Sang also miss out through injury and illness respectively. George Nurse has departed the club, while Wolves academy graduate Taylor Perry is set to return to Molineux for the first time since joining Shrewsbury.
Burnley v Millwall - Saturday, 3pm
Scott Parker's scope for rotation remains limited as Burnley prepare for their FA Cup tie with Millwall. Maxime Esteve has returned from injury, while Axel Tuanzebe, Hannibal Mejbri and Lyle Foster are back from AFCON, but the squad remains stretched. With Premier League survival the priority, Parker is still expected to rotate where possible despite his restricted options.
Zian Flemming will miss out on facing his former club, with the forward still sidelined by a knock sustained in late December. While the issue is not considered serious, the Dutchman has been ruled out of Saturday's clash.
Fulham v Middlesbrough - Saturday, 3pm
Fulham manager Marco Silva has confirmed that Rodrigo Muniz, Kenny Tete, and Josh King will all miss out through injury, joining the club's AFCON contingent who are unavailable.
Despite the list of absentees, Fulham are one of the Premier League most in-form teams, having gone six games unbeaten - and Silva won't be taking their high-flying Championship opponents lightly.
"The competition is so special," Silva said on Friday, when asked if there would be heavy rotation. "It's the oldest competition in the world, a very important one. It doesn't matter what type of club you are, if you are a Premier club, Championship club or whatever, you have a chance to dream for something or to fight for something, more fight than to dream, to be honest."
Manchester City v Exeter - Saturday, 3pm
Pep Guardiola has confirmed Antoine Semenyo will be involved in Manchester City’s squad for Saturday, though a decision is yet to be made on whether he will start.
Oscar Bobb remains sidelined and has not returned to training since the Brentford game. Guardiola also hinted at further opportunities for academy players to feature, reiterating his long-standing confidence in the club's youth system.
City will be without a number of first-team players, with Josko Gvardiol (tibial fracture), Ruben Dias (hamstring), Savinho, John Stones (thigh) and Mateo Kovacic (ankle/heel) also sidelined through injury. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri remain unavailable due to their involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations.
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Semenyo ready to 'take game to next level' after joining Man City
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Newcastle v Bournemouth - Saturday, 3pm
Newcastle face defensive challenges ahead of their FA Cup tie, with Fabian Schär sidelined by ankle ligament damage, though the injury is "not as bad as it looked" and he will see a specialist in the coming days.
Dan Burn is making progress but will be eased back cautiously, while Jamaal Lascelles is not currently training and could potentially leave the club. Head coach Eddie Howe described the FA Cup as "a magical competition" and intends to field a strong side while trusting his squad to advance to the fourth round.
As for Bournemouth, Evanilson and Enes Unal ended the Tottenham game with "some issues" and are currently being assessed. Head coach Andoni Iraola hopes both will be fit for the tie on Tyneside but cannot guarantee their availability.
Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford - Saturday, 3pm
Brentford manager Keith Andrews has confirmed Romelle Donovan and Reiss Nelson are in contention for the trip to Hillsborough, while Dango Ouattara will miss out after being given extra rest following his AFCON duties with Burkina Faso.
Josh Dasilva remains sidelined with a knee ligament injury, while Fabio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo are out for the season with ACL injuries. Frank Onyeka is also unavailable, still on international duty with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Tottenham v Aston Villa - Saturday, 5.45pm
Tottenham will be without captain Cristian Romero, who serves an extra one-match suspension following his dismissal and subsequent conduct in last month's defeat to Liverpool. Spurs are also missing Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Dominic Solanke and Destiny Udogie through injury, while Mohammed Kudus remains sidelined until after the March international break.
Aston Villa travel to North London without first-choice goalkeeper Emi MartĂnez, who was forced off injured against Crystal Palace and has been ruled out of the FA Cup tie. Tyrone Mings will be assessed, while Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley remain unavailable. Evann Guessand is away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, but January signing Alysson could feature.
Charlton Athletic v Chelsea - Saturday, 8pm
Charlton will be without Kayne Ramsay (hamstring), Josh Edwards (ankle), Onel Hernandez (hamstring) and Matty Godden (knee) for their FA Cup tie at The Valley, live on TNT Sports 1.
Ahead of Liam Rosenior's first match in charge, Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella serves a one-match ban following his red card at Fulham. Long-term absentees Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo remain sidelined.
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Derby County v Leeds - Sunday, 2pm
Leeds head into their FA Cup tie with largely the same squad that faced Newcastle, though Sam Byram (back) is a slight doubt.
Manager Daniel Farke stressed he will be cautious with players returning from injury, such as Jayden Bogle. Karl Darlow is set to start in goal, with the possibility of several Under-21 players joining the squad.
"If it is risky, I wouldn’t do this so I think it will be more or less the same group of players available like for the last game," Farke told the media at Thorp Arch. "So Joe [Rodon] no setback during the game, of course he was a bit tired in the end of the game anyhow but no injuries.
"Since more or less three weeks, we have not a day off anyhow so the players are have tough days at the moment, so there are little question marks but I hope to have them also available for this game.
"Of course, a few players played many, many minutes in the last couple of weeks, and with them we will be a bit more careful and we will assess them a bit more if they are really capable to play more minutes."
Portsmouth v Arsenal - Sunday, 2pm
Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie is set for scans to assess a potential hamstring injury following Thursday’s draw with Liverpool.
The 24-year-old's absence paves the way for Myles Lewis-Skelly to deputise at left-back, while Ben White, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Gabriel Jesus, Eberechi Eze, Gabriel Martinelli, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino are all expected to feature from the off at Fratton Park after being named on the bench against Liverpool.
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West Ham v QPR - Sunday, 2.30pm
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed Aaron Wan-Bissaka is back in training ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie with QPR, following DR Congo's narrow exit from the Africa Cup of Nations. Wan-Bissaka played 120 minutes in the last-16 loss to Algeria and joined a light session at Rush Green on Friday.
Otherwise, West Ham have no new injury concerns, with new signings Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe looking to build on their Premier League debuts against Nottingham Forest in midweek.
Manchester United v Brighton - Sunday, 4.30pm
Man Utd will have the same squad available to them that earned a 2-2 draw at Burnley on Wednesday. Interim boss Darren Fletcher will not have reinforcements for Sunday's third-round clash, with Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo still away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
"It's too close a turnaround. So we'll have the same players available we had against Burnley, no new additions," he said.
Fletcher added that midfielder Kobbie Mainoo was "in a good place" and is training well after struggling for game time under Ruben Amorim while no decision has been made on defender Harry Maguire after his return from injury.
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Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler expects to be without Solly March and Mats Wieffer, while Yankuba Minteh will be assessed ahead of kick-off after picking up a dead leg. There is more encouraging news on Charalampos Kostoulas and Joel Veltman, both of whom are set to be available.
Hurzeler has also confirmed he will rotate his starting XI from the midweek draw at Manchester City, while stressing the competition will be taken seriously.
Liverpool v Barnsley - Monday, 7.45pm
Liverpool are set for heavy rotation against Barnsley as manager Arne Slot looks to manage his squad following Thursday’s goalless draw at Arsenal.
Hugo Ekitike may not be risked after missing the Emirates trip, leaving Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha likely to start on the flanks, or Chiesa could lead the line with Jeremie Frimpong on the right. Curtis Jones could return to midfield alongside youngster Trey Nyoni, with Giorgi Mamardashvili set to replace Alisson in goal.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate could be rested, with Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson a possible partnership due to injuries to Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo. Conor Bradley is out, which could see Calvin Ramsay return at right-back for his first appearance since October. Mohamed Salah continues to be unavailable, away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
How to watch the remaining fixtures
Any FA Cup third-round fixtures that are played outside of the 15:00 Saturday blackout window, but are not shown live on TNT Sports, will be available to stream live on discovery+.
How do I watch FA Cup live streams on TNT Sports? What is discovery+?
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