Team news is here. As announced, United play Altay Bayindir in goal and Alejandro Garnacho comes in for Amad Diallo. Arsenal make three changes: Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Jorginho join and Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey leave.

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard, Jesus, Martinelli, Havertz. Substitutes: Neto, Tierney, Partey, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Trossard, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Rice.
Manchester United: Bayindir, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazroui, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund. Substitutes: Onana, Zirkzee, Malacia, Eriksen, Yoro, Amad, Casemiro, Antony, Collyer.
Referee: Andrew Madley.

This year’s third round was quite strange. No repeats. There are so few large pages separated from smaller pages. There are only nine games left to play and the biggest surprise was Brentford’s defeat to a team a league below them. No. 2 on this list is, what, Cardiff beating Sunderland on a half-empty pitch? A free draw is one of the greatest features of this great competition, but sometimes it also creates a lot of duffers.

A game between two true giants, even if giants played each other last month and will face each other again in early March, feels like the kingpin in a circus tent holding the whole thing up. So let’s hope it turns out well.

Last week Manchester United, 20-time league champions, played against the team in second place on the all-time title list (and, as you may recall, played a dramatic draw), Liverpool at 19. This week played United, 13-time FA -Cup champions, play against the team in first place on this all-time title list, namely Arsenal with 14. They do this to replenish their players’ dwindling reserves of winning feelings. “The feeling of winning, that feeling gives you so much confidence. If you win one thing, you will believe that you can win more,” Ruben Amorim said on Friday. “This feeling is addictive; you feel it and it’s really easy to follow. I think it’s important for the players’ confidence.”

Arsenal have not tasted victory since 2020, the last time they won this or any other trophy, and the only player from the current squad who played that day is Kieran Tierney. “I don’t expect any credit (for this win),” Mikel Arteta said this week. “I expect we will be judged on what we do that day. And what happened in the past is not relevant to the future.”

Today (and certainly every other day) is Judgment Day. The hammer is ready to fall. Let’s get started.