Wigan Athletic v Man United: When will the FA Cup third round tie be played? Will it be on TV? What's been the reaction to the draw? | OneFootball

Sunday's FA Cup draw has handed Wigan Athletic an attractive revenue-generating clash with Premier League giants Manchester United, and the Latics, who have a recent history of causing cup shocks, will be looking to create more history.

This away tie for Erik ten Hag's side puts an end to the Red Devils' remarkable run of 12 consecutive home domestic cup draws - it could be argued that home advantage played a big role in United's League Cup triumph last season, as well as their run to the FA Cup final.

For some of the newer players in the United squad, an away tie in the FA Cup is therefore unfamiliar territory and will provide a different test to that of an Old Trafford crowd, where, of course, the vast majority of supporters are backing the Red Devils.

The Red Devils are not in the Premier League title race, and suffered their sixth league defeat of the season at Newcastle United on Saturday as an Anthony Gordon tap-in won the game for Eddie Howe's Magpies.

The Latics, meanwhile, are 14th in League One but have been in impressive form, and would be ninth in the table, and firmly in the play-off hunt, if it was not for their eight-point deduction, which was inflicted on the club due to the financial mismanagement of previous owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi.

When will the FA Cup third round be played?

All the third round FA Cup ties are due to be played across the weekend of Saturday 6th January and Sunday 7th January, including on the evenings of Friday 5th January and Monday 8th January; Latics fans can treat themselves to this mouthwatering fixture as a late Christmas gift.

For those of the Red Devils persuasion, this tie presents United fans with the first opportunity to watch their team in competitive action at the DW Stadium for the first time since January 2013, when the Reds won 4-0 courtesy of braces from both Javier Hernandez and Robin Van Persie.

Will Wigan v Man United be on TV?

The FA Cup third round TV schedule has not been finalised yet, but you would suspect that both FA Cup broadcasters - BBC and ITV - would be keen to show this one, not least because of the global appeal of Ten Hag's Reds.

The Latics' fifth round clash with Manchester City was televised in 2018, and the 'Tics, then of League One as they are now, produced one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history by defeating Guardiola's side in what was a repeat of the 2013 FA Cup final, which Roberto Martinez's Wigan side famously won.

The slim chance of such a monumental upset occurring once more should be enough for all neutrals to wish to tune in to this tie.

What's been the reaction to the draw?

Former 'Tics midfielder and occasional right-back Max Power believes that the Latics could be in for a treat here, and on Monday morning, he took to X to share his thoughts: "What a great FA Cup draw for Wigan yesterday.

"The club and the Cup just have that special relationship."

The club's League One top goalscorer, Stephen Humphrys, who also netted the winner in the second round tie at National League York City, simply posted: "Let's have it then," shortly after the big tie was announced.