FA Cup third round LIVE! Match updates, score, match report as Premier League teams enter the competition

Sunday 11 January 2026 14:27, UK

FA Cup third round LIVE!

First Half: Portsmouth 1-2 Arsenal – Gunners score twice from two set pieces! View post

2.30pm: West Ham vs QPR | Sheff Utd vs Mansfield | Hull vs Blackburn | Norwich vs Walsall | Swansea vs West Brom

4.30pm: Man Utd vs Brighton | FT: Derby 1-3 Leeds

GOAL! Portsmouth 1-2 Arsenal (Martinelli, 25)

Arsenal’s set piece strength comes to the fore again!

It’s far too easy for the Gunners from a Portsmouth perspective.

Martinelli rises highest at the near post to flick Madueke’s corner into the back of the net.

FA Cup third round LIVE! Match updates, score, match report as Premier League teams enter the competition

Sunday 11 January 2026 14:10, UK

GOAL! Portsmouth 1-1 Arsenal (Dozzell OG, 8)

Arsenal get an instant response and of course, it is a set piece!

Eze’s corner is flicked on at the near post and there’s a scramble in the box.

Noorgard is there to disrupt as the ball crosses the line.

it’s not clear who got the decisive touch but the goal is given as a Dozzell own goal.

Game on!

FA Cup third round LIVE!

First Half: Portsmouth 1-1 Arsenal – Own-goal cancels out Pompey’s early opener View post

FT: Derby 1-3 Leeds – Leeds complete second-half turnaround View post

2.30pm: West Ham vs QPR | Sheff Utd vs Mansfield | Hull vs Blackburn | Norwich vs Walsall | Swansea vs West Brom

4.30pm: Man Utd vs Brighton

Preview: Portsmouth v Arsenal

Our quest to add to our record 14 FA Cup triumphs begins at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park on Sunday (2pm UK), as our fight for silverware moves onto a fourth front.

We start the first of four successive away games, all in different competitions, by heading to the home of the Championship side for the first time in six years. Back then, we advanced into the quarter-finals of the competition, en route to lifting the trophy in the early months of Mikel Arteta’s reign.

He’ll hope that history repeats itself in more ways than one, and the omens are good as we haven’t lost to Portsmouth in our last 22 meetings, a run that incredibly stretches back 67 years to 1958.

Welcome cup distraction



In their second season back in the second tier, Pompey are once again scrapping to maintain that status. Last term saw them finish 16th, five points above the relegation zone, but things are more precarious this time around, as they sit 21st, one point above the drop zone, albeit with games in hand.

Manager John Mousinho was handed his first managerial role by the club just over three years ago, and has rewarded that faith by leading them to the League One title in his first full season in charge. But after a promising start to this campaign that brought a single defeat in their opening five Championship games, the south-coast club have slowly slipped down the table.

They come into this cup tie with one win in their last four, albeit that came in their last home game – a 2-1 success over Charlton Athletic thanks to a 98th-minute winner. 2026 began with a chastening 5-0 loss at Bristol City, before last weekend’s game against Ipswich Town was postponed due to a frozen pitch, leaving them without a fixture for 11 days.

What the managers say



Arteta: “We want [more trophies] for sure, that’s what we are chasing. That’s the purpose of this team.

“At the end, I think we have to get judged, and we get judged for what we do today. Last week is not important and we will get judged for what we are able to do at the end of the season. One thing is the trophies for our football club and the many other things that you have to do in a football club, especially in the situation we are in.”



Mousinho: “The fact that we have a free week building up to the game and a free week after it means we’re not worried about fixture congestion. The fact that we’ve drawn Arsenal at home means it’s a massive opportunity for us to go and enjoy the day and put on a decent enough performance and enjoy the FA Cup.

“There are some very good sides in the Championship, but it just so happens that this weekend we’re playing one of the best sides in the world. It’s an exciting proposition, a bit of a daunting one as well, but we just have to prepare as we normally would.”

Team news



Piero Hincapie came off during the 0-0 draw against Liverpool on Thursday and is a doubt, while Arteta suggested before that match that Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera are still a little bit away from returning from their injuries.

Max Dowman is nursing a hamstring issue, while Kai Havertz could be an option as he continues to work his way back from the knee injury he sustained on the opening day.

Portsmouth have a packed treatment room at present, which got fuller this week when midfielder Mark Kosznovszky was ruled out long-term with a serious ACL injury, while centre-backs Hayden Matthews (ankle) and Josh Knight (back) have missed recent matches and will do so again here.

Forwards Callum Lang and Josh Murphy are a few weeks away from returning from their hamstring injuries, so Mousinho will be hoping that captain Marlon Pack and striker Colby Bishop will recover from their issues to feature, especially after Minhyeok Yang was recalled by Tottenham Hotspur earlier this week.

Talking tactics



Adrian Clarke: Mousinho likes to use a 4-2-3-1 that focuses hard on releasing his wingers down the sides, but he also occasionally plays a back five. Their young head coach may wish to opt for safety in numbers – but his side are certainly more comfortable in their preferred set-up.

In possession, they have a balanced approach, play through the thirds, and they love to get the ball to their wingers, who tend to put plenty of crosses into the box. But Mousinho’s men will also go direct at times – no Championship side averages more long passes (69 per 90 minutes) than Portsmouth.

Scoring goals has been an issue, netting just 21 times in league games – the second-lowest tally – while their top scorer is central attacking midfielder Adrian Segecic [above] who has four of them. They have also had issues defending crosses which has led to them conceding 14 set-piece goals: the second most at Championship level, while eight of the 35 goals they have let in have been headers.

Backed by vociferous support at Fratton Park, Pompey will try to upset our rhythm with fierce closing down and a well-organised shape. Known for displaying fight on home turf, they have beaten three of the Championship’s top five on their own patch this season, and as shown by the fact they’ve yet to concede more than twice in a home match too, they can be a tough nut to crack.

Facts and stats



Portsmouth are winless in their last 22 games against us in all competitions (D8 L14), dating back to a 5-4 win in March 1958. Only against Chelsea (31 between 1962 and 2012) have they ever had a longer winless run.

We have progressed from all four of our FA Cup ties against Pompey, in 1931/32, 1970/71, 2003/04 and 2019/20. We’ve only faced Brighton and Leyton Orient in more ties with a 100% success rate (5/5).

Portsmouth have lost their last three FA Cup third-round ties and their last five FA Cup ties against Premier League opposition since beating Tottenham Hotspur in the 2009/10 semi-final.

We have been eliminated from the FA Cup third round in each of the last two seasons, albeit against top-flight opposition in Liverpool and Man Utd. We haven’t gone out at this stage in more consecutive campaigns since a run of four between 1938/39 and 1947/48.

Read more

Storey’s pair of penalties pip Portsmouth in 1971

Match officials



Tony Harrington has been handed just his second Gunners game, and we won the previous two. We beat Southampton 3-1 last season, while he was also the man in the middle for last month’s 2-0 success over Brentford. He has refereed 14 games in all competitions this term, averaging 3.1 yellow cards a game, and he has sent off two players and awarded two penalties.

If the scores are level after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time will follow before a penalty shootout if required. VAR will not be in operation at this stage of the competition.

Referee: Tony Harrington

Assistants: Steven Meredith & Sian Massey-Ellis

Fourth official: Leigh Doughty

Previous trips to Pompey

This will be our first trip to Fratton Park since 2020 – the season in which we last won the FA Cup. That encounter was at the fifth-round stage, and a youthful side progressed thanks to goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah.

You have to go back to December 2009 for the previous league encounter when we ventured down to the south coast for a Premier League clash, and were 4-1 victors with Eduardo, Samir Nasri, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Song all finding the net. Seven months earlier, we also recorded a three-goal winning margin when a double from Nicklas Bendtner and a Carlos Vela effort secured three points.

Tune into Arsenal.com and the official app just before kick-off to get live commentary of the game, with Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke talking you through all the on-field action.

You can also find out which broadcaster is showing the action live wherever you are in the world.

Read more

Ho w to watch Portsmouth v Arsenal live on TV