English FA CUP
2026-01-10 - Macclesfield vs Crystal Palace
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English FA Cup Third Round
Saturday 10th January 2025 - Kick Off 12:15pm
This game is live on TV
Macclesfield
This is a club not be confused with Macclesfield Town who had been served a winding up order in September 2020, although Macclesfield were formed in the aftermath of that. In the last few years, Macclesfield have moved up the League pyramid into the National League North, but they are the lowest ranked club left in the FA Cup at the Third Round stage and have been rewarded with a tie against the holders.
There will be plenty of excitement around the Leasing.com Stadium, but many who will also have their thoughts with the friends and family of Ethan McLeod who sadly passed away in an accident last month. Everyone associated with Macclesfield will have McLeod on the mind when they head out to face a Premier League opponent and look to create one of the big FA Cup upsets.
Macclesfield were on the way back from Bedford Town when Ethan McLeod had chosen to make his own way home and suffered the fatal accident. The side have played just 3 times since that match in mid-December and Macclesfield had lost twice in a row before beating Radcliffe at home. They had won 1 of 4 home games in all competitions before the win more recently here.
Crystal Palace
The manager is set to leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season, but Oliver Glasner has made it very clear to the press that he will not be speaking about any vacancies that his name is being linked with. Instead the focus is on making sure his team have a very strong five months and build on the tremendous FA Cup success of 2025.
That is the first piece of major silverware won by Crystal Palace and the Cup competitions continue to be taken very seriously with the team reaching the League Cup Quarter Final last month and also set for Conference League Knock Out action. Losing as the holders of the FA Cup in the Third Round would be a disappointment, but being beaten by a non-League opponent would be a monster upset.
Crystal Palace missed some decent chances in the goalless draw with Aston Villa during the week and that means they have failed to win any of the last 8 games in all competitions. However, The Eagles will not have faced too many opponents of the level of Macclesfield in that time and they are big favourites this weekend.
Oliver Glasner will likely make some changes to his starting eleven to freshen things up after a busy festive period, but the manager has also selected strong Cup teams in his time with Crystal Palace. That is set to be the case on Saturday with several days between this fixture and the next League game.
Head to Head
This is the first time these two clubs will have faced off.
Prediction
It has been some time since the FA Cup Third Round was seen as the big January weekend, but this remains a really important competition in the eyes of the fans.
Managers from the upper two Divisions are likely going to make changes for the Cup tie having just taken squads through a very busy December, but the Third Round sits in a decent spot for most.
That should be the case for holders Crystal Palace who are managed by someone who has taken all domestic Cup competitions very seriously. Oliver Glasner is likely going to make some changes, but there should be plenty of experience on the pitch with his team facing just a couple more League games this month.
He may be able to get away with resting one or two more players considering the talent edge between the National League North and Premier League, but Macclesfield have nothing to lose and that can make them awkward.
The tragic passing of Ethan McLeod last month provides motivation for the home team and so Crystal Palace will have to make sure they pay plenty of respect to the hosts.
Oliver Glasner has tended to do that and you have to believe his team have enough about them to secure what will eventually be a relatively comfortable away success.
The Pick :
Macclesfield 0-3 Crystal Palace
