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Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy has accepted the charge put by the FA over the dissent shown by him towards referee Jon Moss, when the referee booked him for the second time for simulation in the game against West Ham.

Jamie Vardy accepts FA charge and will miss Swansea and Manchester United

Vardy was furious with the decision given by the referee which provoked him to abuse Moss while leaving the pitch. Vardy was earlier booked for a foul on Kouyate. The incident happened around 56 minutes, when Leicester were leading 1-0 in the game.

According to referee Moss, Vardy theatrically dived on contact with Ogbonna, a contact which the forward initiated. The decision could have serious repercussions on the title bid of the Foxes. Vardy is due to miss the game against Swansea. However, since he has accepted the charge, he is very much in contention to miss the game against United as well.

With Tottenham just five points behind them and very much on the up, the possibility of the title bid of the Foxes getting derailed is not an unlikely scenario. Vardy has asked for a personal hearing, which is slated for Monday.

Earlier in the season, Diego Costa was charged with an additional suspension along with a warning to his future conduct  for a similar misconduct in the FA Cup quarterfinal game against Everton.

The Premier league season this year has been one of the most unexpected and unpredictable campaigns in a long time. The FA Cup certainly has not been far behind.

FA Cup semi-final draw: Crystal Palace vs. Watford

The biggest shock in the quarterfinal round of matches came from Watford, who beat Arsenal at the Emirates. Even the most sceptical Gunners fan might have not expected this defeat considering the form of Wenger's men in the FA Cup over the last two years.

With the Premier league title running away from them after every league match and with Arsenal almost out of the Champions league at the time, it was evident that Wenger would have seriously wanted to win a domestic cup. Hence, Watford need to be congratulated even more for their effort and goals from Ighalo and Guedioura helped them go to Wembley.

Watford have endured a mixed campaign this season. Sanchez Flores' men enjoyed a good start to the Premier league campaign but have faded away as the season draws to a close. With Premier league safety almost confirmed, the Hornets have something to look forward to.

Crystal Palace have equally been shambolic under Pardew in this Premier league season. With Pardew enjoying a strong finish with the Eagles last season and the capturing of the likes of Yohan Cabaye, who by the way scored for them in the FA Cup quarterfinal, had promised a lot this season.

Crystal Palace's season has been like a roller coaster ride since 2015, when the Mansion - who runs a few sites like Casino.com online casino, came on board as T Shirt sponsors but they have done well to reach the semis in the FA Cup. Perhaps their performance is like a casino gamble, where people win some and lose some. It remains to be seen whether Crystal Palace's casino style gamble will pay off in the semis.

However, the Eagles have been languishing at the bottom half of the table.The win over Reading, however, in the quarterfinal has given the opportunity to Palace for a famous FA cup triumph. Pardew may emphasized the importance of the league form but deep down he would love to come away with a cup triumph, in what has been an uninspiring season for the Eagles.

Everton may be the slight favourites for this season's FA cup. But both Watford and Palace are very much capable of upsetting the normal proceedings just like the current Premier league season.

Chelsea have certainly begun the new year in great fashion by winning a tricky away game at Crystal Palace in a convincing manner. The Blues are now unbeaten in their last four games and that record is expected to continue with Scunthorpe United being their next opponents in the FA cup third round clash.

Chelsea vs Scunthorpe United: Preview

Chelsea have a very good record in the FA cup especially in the last 9 years wherein they have won the competition on four occasions.

However, Hiddink will know that a team who was in better form than the current one lost against Bradford City at home in spite of being 2-0 up at one stage. He would certainly tell his players to regard this competition with much more respect since the FA cup is perhaps their only plausible way to win something this season.

The competition is certainly very special to Hiddink given he won the cup in his last reign in 2009 as Chelsea boss.

Scunthorpe United on the other hand have certainly nothing to lose and would be excited to play the Premier league champions at Stamford Bridge. The last time these two teams met was in the FA cup itself in the 2004-05 season wherein the Pensioners went on to win the game comfortably. Hiddink will look to give rest to some of his key players ahead of a hectic schedule of games.

Players like Rahman and Loftus-Cheek may most likely get an opportunity to impress the manager with Costa leading the line, being the only recognized first team striker.

As far as Scunthorpe United is concerned, manager Mark Robins would certainly hope that his leading goal scorer Paddy Madden would be fit in time for the Chelsea game.

Possible Starting Line ups:

Chelsea Starting 11:
Begovic, Rahman, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Zouma, Loftus-Cheek, Matic, Ramires, Pedro, Costa, Oscar

Scunthorpe United Starting 11:
Daniels, Clarke, Canavan, Laird, Mirfin, Bishop, Dawson, Williams, Van Veen, Ness, Madden

Predicted Score: 
Chelsea 4-0 Scunthorpe United

Liverpool narrowly escaped Exeter City's raucous St James' Park stadium with a 2-2 draw on Friday night, in a classic tie to kick off FA Cup third round weekend.

Olimpico goal almost sees fourth-tier Exeter knock Liverpool out of FA Cup.

The home side, currently 16th in League 2, led twice and looked to be controlling the game in the second half before Liverpool's Brad Smith poked home a 73rd minute equaliser. Neither side could find a winner and now face a replay at Anfield for a place in the fourth round.

With his team in the midst of a busy schedule and an injury crisis, Jurgen Klopp was expected to make significant changes from the side that beat Stoke on Tuesday night. Even so, the level of inexperience in the starting XI was startling. Three players were making their first team debuts, including Tiago Ilori, recently returned from a failed loan spell at Aston Villa, and Kevin Stewart, called back from his loan at Swindon Town just hours before kickoff. Forgotten man Jose Enrique started at centre back while Adam Bogdan took over in goal.

Exeter City, roared on by their passionate home support, must have fancied their chances of causing an upset and duly took the lead in the 9th minute when their promising young striker Tom Nichols met a cross with a neat, first-time finish.

Liverpool hit back quickly through Jerome Sinclair's first senior goal and began to assert themselves on proceedings. Despite Joao Teixeira's lively midfield work and Connor Randall's attacking runs down the right, they struggled to create clear chances and Exeter grew back into the game, countering Liverpool's high press tactics with long balls that bypassed the midfield and stretched an inexperienced defence.

Just before half time, Exeter won a corner and Lee Holmes' curling delivery flew straight in to the Liverpool net past the hapless Adam Bogdan, who was put off far too easily by a nudge from an Exeter player on the goalline. Exeter took their lead into the break as a famous shock began to look possible.

Klopp sent his side out early from the dressing room for the second half, and Liverpool almost scored when Christian Benteke's close range header was brilliantly turned over the bar by Exeter 'keeper Bobby Olejnik. But Liverpool never built on that chance as Exeter held their own, diving into tackles and committing men forward to win the ball high up the pitch. Liverpool's young midfield struggled to put any flowing moves together on the boggy playing surface and Benteke began to look more and more isolated in attack. Liverpool's record of never having lost to fourth-tier opposition in the FA Cup was looking under serious threat.

Still, Klopp resisted the temptation to use senior players on the bench, either showing faith that his youngsters could turn things around or accepting a defeat that would ease a congested fixture list. But he did bring on Sheyi Ojo, another loanee called back to bolster the squad, whose fast and direct wing play led to the equaliser. His cross from the left fell to the feet of Brad Smith - arguably Liverpool's best player on the night - who reacted quickly to drill home his first senior goal.

A scrappy final 20 minutes saw no clear cut chances as Exeter continued to disrupt Liverpool's attacking play, themselves still getting forward to threaten a famous winner. An injury time corner to Exeter had the home fans dreaming, but the sense was that the Exeter players were more than happy to take their hard-earned replay at Anfield later this month.

Article contributed by: Ben McAlinden

Manchester United would be meeting League One outfit Sheffield United, who have been giant killers in the past few seasons, in the third round of their FA cup clash. Louis Van Gaal would certainly love some cup distraction given the current results of his team in the league.

Manchester United vs Sheffield United: Preview

United may have hoped to turn a tide with a win against Swansea in their last league game but to be fair, the only thing good from that game was the result. The pressure is still very much present on the manager and a third-round exit in a tournament, which can possible earn their first silverware in three years, would be the final nail in the coffin for LVG.

Sheffield United, on the other hand, would certainly relish the prospect of playing against the English giants at Old Trafford. They certainly do not have anything to lose and this is possibly the best time for them to play United. Former Southampton manager Nigel Adkins would certainly be optimistic about his side's chances given that prior to their defeat against Peterborough, they had won their last four matches on the trot.

Manchester United would certainly take this game seriously although they would also have an eye on the game against Newcastle United as well. Depay may get into the starting eleven along with Pereira with LVG struggling to name a full strength squad due to various injuries. Sheffield United are relatively better in the injury department with Adkins having an almost full strength squad to choose from.

Possible Starting Line ups:

Manchester United Starting 11:
Romero, Jackson, Jones, Smalling, Young, Schneiderlin, Carrick, Herrera, Depay, Martial,Pereira

Sheffield United Starting 11:
Long, Edgar, Collins, Brayford, McEveley, Hammond, Basham, Cotts, Woolford, Sharp, Sammon

Predicted Score: 

Manchester United 3-1 Sheffield United

Arsenal will be kicking off their FA cup defence against a Sunderland side that have been ragged in the last few days. The gunners have won the tournament on the last two occasions and there is no particular reason why they cannot defend it again.

Arsenal vs Sunderland : Preview

Unlike the past few seasons, Arsenal have certainly much to look forward, apart from the FA cup, this season. They are on top of the Premier league and would definitely give much more importance to the title chase than the FA cup. However, for this particular third round match, Wenger will not be so worried about a Sunderland who have not really got going even under Sam Allardyce.

Although the game is at the Emirates, Sunderland would be looking to cause an upset with the team gaining some confidence after beating fellow premier league strugglers Aston Villa in their last league game. However, Allardyce will know that it will take a lot of effort for the black cats to defeat even an under strength Arsenal side, who may have an eye towards their clash against Liverpool in the league.

Arsenal, apart from their long term absentees would be without Sanchez with Arteta and Rosicky most likely to make a return. Sunderland on the other hand have relatively lesser injury worries with Kaboul and Larsson expected to return later this month and the extent of the injury caused to Rodwell still unknown.

Possible Line ups:

Arsenal Starting 11:
Ospina, Bellerin, Chambers, Gabriel, Gibbs, Flamini, Arteta, Ox-Chamberlain, Campbell, Ozil, Walcott

Sunderland Starting 11:
Pantilimon, O'Shea, Yedlin, Coates, Van Aanholt, Cattermole, M'Vila , Borini, Toivonen, Watmore, Defoe

Predicted Score:

Arsenal 2-0 Sunderland