ARSENAL and Manchester United have officially had the hardest FA Cup third round ties in the last 15 years – with Tottenham taking the easy route.
Premier League sides will be looking to avoid huge upsets in the world’s oldest cup competition in the coming days.
Declan Rice and Arsenal have had the toughest route to Wembley over the last 15 yearsCredit: Getty
Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has also had to win silverware the hard wayCredit: Getty
And The Athletic report that Arsenal and Man Utd have statistically faced the most daunting route to Wembley since 2011.
The Gunners’ third round opponents have averaged a league position of 24.9 on the day of the showdown.
Three of their past six opponents at the first hurdle have been Premier League counterparts – having been drawn to take on Newcastle, Liverpool and Man Utd at the Emirates Stadium.
But they still got their hands on the trophy in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020 despite facing a challenging run.
And the luck of the draw was on their side this year – with as Arsenal saw off Championship strugglers Portsmouth last month.
The reward for Mikel Arteta’s side is a tie against League One side Wigan, who famously won the competition in 2013.
The supercomputer highlighted that Man Utd have had the next toughest route to the final, with their third round rivals having an average league position of 26.6.
Red Devils skipper Bruno Fernandes and his team-mates in January.
Danny Welbeck came back to haunt his former club by notching the winner – depriving Man Utd of the chance to get their hands on the prize for a record-equalling 14th time.
The Red Devils have added the FA Cup to their trophy cabinet twice during their testing run since 2011.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are looking to avoid an upset against WiganCredit: Reuters
Statistics show that Tottenham have had the easiest run of third round ties since 2011Credit: Alamy
in 2024, which resulted in Erik ten Hag keeping his job in the dugout.
Of the 20 sides currently in the Premier League, Tottenham have had the easiest run of third round ties.
The average position of the clubs they faced is 51.2 – but this season.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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