Saturday’s 23/1 FA Cup 3rd Round punt – Paddy Power News

Getting up at 4am for a trip from Sunderland to Merseyside on a cold January morning… it’s the sort of things that separates the casuals from true acolytes.

Of course, we may bemoan the lack of common sense in play, as a thousand monkeys at a thousand laptops determine the FA Cup‘s at-times barmy scheduling. But for us, it presents an opportunity to look at four fantastic 12.15 ties playing out this Saturday.

Paddy Power News football tipster James O’Rourke has a pick on each game which adds up to a superb acca!

Saturday’s FA Cup 12.15 Kickoff tips

Cheltenham v Leicester
Leicester & Under 4.5 Goals

Everton v Sunderland
Under 2.5 Goals

Macclesfield v Crystal Palace
Palace Win to Nil

Wolves v Shrewsbury
Wolves Under 0.5 Cards

A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 23/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change

Cheltenham v Leicester

WHERE: The EV Charger Points Stadium
TV: TNT Sports 7 (UK)

Leicester to Win & Under 4.5 Goals

Leicester bear a great burden of expectation, and although the cup itself probably isn’t hugely important to them, the pressure on manager Martí Cifuentes would be cranked up to a new high with a shock defeat. He’d gladly take any kind of victory over the lowest scorers in League Two, Cheltenham Town, who lost their top scorer Isaac Hutchinson when he was recalled from loan by parent club Bristol Rovers during the week.

Hutchinson’s place atop the club’s combined league goals and assists chart (seven contributions) only further underlines how limited Steve Cotterill’s side are likely to be in offensive terms. However, we also think that Leicester are likely to rotate their starting side for this cup tie off the back of a busy Christmas and New Year period.

The Foxes don’t possess the biggest of squads in any case, but they should still have enough to beat a side in the bottom half of League Two. With the anticipated reduced goal threat from the home team and the Championship side probably resting some of their key men, a chance is taken on the visitors getting the job done in rather unspectacular fashion.

Besides which, Cheltenham have conceded more than two goals in a home fixture just once all season!

Everton v Sunderland

WHERE: The Hill-Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool
TV: Discovery+ (UK)

UNder 2.5 Goals

Goals have been a little hard to come by for both Everton and Sunderland in recent times. Both have suffered from key absences away at the Africa Cup of Nations, so the appetite for this cup tie could be a little reduced, particularly off the back of a busy Christmas and New Year period. Naturally, when scoring goals becomes an issue then form in general dips.

Everton have recorded only one victory over their previous six, while failing to score in three of those. In addition, just two featured both teams scoring – but most notable of all is the fact that five contained less than 2.5 goals, including a disappointing midweek home draw to rock-bottom Wolves.

After a great start to 2025/26, Sunderland are now winless in five, although some creditable draws against the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham and Brighton are included in that sequence of results. However, it is six without victory away from home now, four of which saw them fail to find the net.

There could be some changes from both managers here too, just to offer some fresh legs an opportunity to prove themselves, but we don’t expect the goal threat to suddenly increase.

Macclesfield v Crystal Palace

WHERE: Moss Rose
TV: BBC One / iPlayer (UK)

Palace to Win to-Nil

It has been a busy period for Crystal Palace and there will surely be a degree of rotation in their side for this cup tie. However, manager Oliver Glasner is very much one to take the cup matches seriously – after all, they won this competition only last season! More recently, they reached the Quarter Finals of the Carabao Cup and remain amongst the genuine UEFA Conference League contenders.

This is a clear potential banana skin for anyone, but more especially a Palace side winless in eight, so we don’t expect them to just play the kids. And while Macclesfield may half fancy their chances of an upset in light of Palace’s poor recent form, it’s worth remembering that only Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland have conceded fewer Premier League goals than Glasner’s side this season.

The top-flight club have also claimed eight league clean sheets during 2025/26 too, contributing much to a 38.1% win rate so far this term. Ultimately, that stern rearguard should serve them well facing a side in the bottom half of National League North.

That said, Macclesfield’s home form has been strong of late, with seven wins (D2, L1) across their last ten home games. But there is a flipside of course, in that none of those visitors were of Palace’s stature, and while the Silkmen have perhaps had an eye on this big cup tie for a while, a return of two defeats to-nil in their previous three outings isn’t ideal preparation for it.

Wolves v Shrewsbury

WHERE: Molineux, Wolverhampton
TV: Discovery+ (UK)

Wolves Under 0.5 Cards

A few weeks ago, Wolves would have been dreading the prospect of this cup tie when losing 12 games in a row. Ironically, the last of those 12 losses proved to be the turning point after running Liverpool very close at Anfield. Since then, Rob Edwards’ men have created a three-game unbeaten streak – including a first league victory of the campaign, when dismantling West Ham 3-0 in their previous home fixture.

The Championship next season remains a strong possibility for Wolves to say the least, but the general mood around the squad is much more positive – something reflected in them receiving fewer cards in recent matches. Indeed, Wolves were carded only once at home to West Ham and then just twice at Old Trafford.

With performances now much improved, Wolves should be able to control their emotions much more efficiently. Therefore, a chance is taken on them not picking up a single card at home to League Two strugglers Shrewsbury, despite it being something of a local derby that separates the sides by just over 30 miles.

Despite the proximity between the two sides, it shouldn’t be a blood and thunder type of collision given the big gap in quality on paper, especially with Shrewsbury sitting third from bottom in the entire EFL. This is arguably a clash Michael Appleton’s men could be doing without, as they’ve gone nine without a win inside 90 minutes and have lost four in a row.

In turn, we expect the hosts to do enough to progress and not lose their cool in doing so.