Salford City

BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton has made his predictions for all 32 FA Cup third round games and given his verdict on who will make it into round four.

For this week's matches he is up against actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, who is a Liverpool fan.

Sutton's prediction: 5-0

Salford are doing quite well in League Two, where they have won six games on the spin, and there is a nice edge to this this game with their owners being Manchester United legends.

I do not see any surprises here, though. Manchester City have won their past two games and Pep Guardiola will want to continue to slowly build some more momentum following their dreadful form towards the end of the year.

Pep always fields strong teams in the FA Cup and Saturday will be no different. He has given Jack Grealish a bit of a kick up the backside this week, so we might see a response from him.

Thornton's prediction: 5-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United have recalled defender Stephan Negru from his season-long loan with League Two promotion challengers Salford City.

Negru has made 17 league starts for Salford this season since joining them in July.

The 22-year-old signed for Oxford from League of Ireland side Shelbourne in January 2023 and made 15 appearances in their League One promotion-winning campaign last season.

He returns to Oxford in time for this weekend's FA Cup third-round tie at Exeter, with the U's having an injury doubt surrounding defender Elliott Moore.

Moore suffered a groin injury in the win at Millwall on 1 January and missed Saturday's draw at Preston North End.

Meanwhile, Oxford have confirmed goalkeeper Ed McGinty has signed for League of Ireland club Shamrock Rovers on a permanent deal.

The 25-year-old, who made 10 first-team appearances for the U's, had been on loan with Sligo Rovers, from whom he joined Oxford in 2022.