The FA Cup is back for its 139th year, with an incredible 736 teams battling it out to life the trophy.
While the competition runs from August to May, things really hot up when the Premier League and Championship teams join in the 3rd round.
Man City are the holders, having thrashed Watford 6-0 in last season’s final to secure a domestic treble. With runaway leaders Liverpool set to win the Premier League, the other top sides will see the FA Cup as a great opportunity to secure a trophy.
Here’s how to watch all the action, including if you’re outside the UK.
Where can you watch the games in the UK?
The BBC and BT share will share TV rights to the competition until 2021. The two broadcasters will share the top picks for each round and one semi-final match, with both channels showing the final on 23 May.
The BBC is free if you have a TV licence, you’ll just have to navigate to BBC One on your TV or head to BBC iPlayer. However, you’ll need to subscribe to BT Sport to watch their games.
The cheapest way of doing this is combining it with a broadband package (£36.99p/m), although you’ll only have access on the app. However, adding it to your BT TV will not incur any extra cost, with packages also starting at £36.99 a month for 24 months. Of course, there more great live content on BT Sport, including every single Champions League game.
BT Sport is also now offering Monthly Passes, considered to be a direct competitor to Now TV. For £25 a month, you can now get unlimited access to BT Sport contract-free, including the 4K-enabled BT Sport Ultimate. The flexibility across devices remains, as it can be used on all the Smart TVs, consoles, tablets and phones that are available to paid subscribers. See all the details here.
Both channels will broadcast the FA Cup final on 23 May 2020.
FA Cup fixture list
There’s a handy guide to all the upcoming games on the FA website.
4th round replays are currently being played, although the draw for the 5th round has already been made. Here are this week’s games, although do note only two of them are being shown on TV.
Tues 4 Feb
- Derby County vs Northampton Town – KO 19.45 – winner plays Man Utd (H)
- Cardiff City vs Reading – KO 19.45 – winner plays Sheffield United (H)
- Birmingham City vs Coventry City – KO 19.45 – winner plays Leicester City (A)
- Liverpool vs Shrewsbury Town – KO 19.45 – winner plays Chelsea (A)
- Oxford United vs Newcastle United – KO 20.05 – BBC One – winner plays West Brom (A) – League One Oxford secured a 0-0 draw at Premier League side Newcastle, and will hope to go one better in front of their own fans at the Kassam Stadium.
Wed 5 Feb
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton – KO 19.45 – BT Sport 1 – winner plays Norwich City (H) – A late Boufal equaliser earned Saints a replay, but Spurs will hope to make home advantage count.
Not in the UK? Not a problem
You can watch the FA Cup if you have a TV license to watch the BBC, but if you’re on holiday outside the UK you can too by using a VPN. You’ll also need it to watch BT Sport from abroad.
A VPN is software that allows you to access blocked content even if you’re not in the country, and it also improves your privacy.
A particularly good option is NordVPN, which you can look at here. Simply installing on your computer, phone or tablet will allow you to watch the matches if you’re outside the UK. Read our more detailed guide here.
Via Techadvisor