I'm sure it's cold enough but it's an absolutely beautiful day at the Riverside, the sun beating down on the two Championship sides.

Away we go.

The players are on the fields at Ashton Gate, St Andrew's and the Riverside Stadium.

FA Cup third round Saturday is about to commence.

The FA Cup third round is well under way, with Premier League sides Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa, plus Championship club Cardiff City and League One's Wycombe, already booking their places in the fourth-round draw with wins on Thursday and Friday.

The draw will be live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer following the conclusion of the Arsenal v Manchester United tie, which kicks off at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

It will include 32 teams - with all third-round matches this weekend settled on the day - and the resulting ties will be played over the weekend commencing Saturday, 8 February.

Chris Sutton
BBC Sport football expert

Sutton's prediction: 4-0

This will be a great day out for Accrington but you can't really make a case for them against the Premier League leaders, no matter what side Arne Slot puts out.

It will be a team of fringe Liverpool players but it will still have great quality. Their success so far this season is because their squad is so strong.

Image source, Reuters

Arne Slot may be new to the FA Cup but he knows it's a big deal today - especially for the fans and players of Accrington Stanley.

"It's a special occasion for every team we face, but especially for a lower-league team," Slot aid when he spoke to the media at the club's snowy training ground on Friday.

"They will be all up for it. They've lived towards this game for weeks probably.

"If you go to a Champions League final, everybody is hyped up and ready and, for them, it is going to feel as if it is a Champions League final, so we have to be aware of that.

"Nine out of 10 times, the first 25 minutes or half hour is the most difficult part of the game because they will still be very intense.

"It's up to us to be ready for them wanting to play the best game of their lives and that is what we have to do as well."

So far the attendances for the FA Cup third round ties have been disappointing - a combination of Thursday and Friday night kick-offs, plus the freezing weather, provide the likely explanations.

Former Sheffield United midfielder Michael Brown gives his view here to the BBC's Football News Show.

Middlesbrough have won their last two FA Cup games against Blackburn, with this their first meeting in the competition since a 1-0 home win in the 2001-02 fifth round.

Meanwhile, Rovers are unbeaten in their past 10 away games against Middlesbrough in all competitions (W3 D7), and have already won 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium this season in the Championship.

Chris Sutton
BBC Sport football expert

Sutton's prediction: 2-2 - Bristol City to win on penalties

Bristol City have picked up a bit of form of late, with three wins and a draw since Christmas.

They did well in the FA Cup last season, knocking out West Ham and then taking Nottingham Forest to a replay, and I fancy them to cause a bit of a shock here too.

Vitor Pereira made a good start as Wolves boss, but they were well beaten by Forest on Monday. He will want to get some momentum back, but how strong does he go?

I suspect he will give some of his fringe players a go, which will make an awkward tie even harder.

Wolves have won both of their previous FA Cup meetings with Bristol City, winning 1-0 in February 1973 (fourth round) and 1-0 again in February 2019 (fifth round).

Wolves goalkeeper Dan Bentley - on the bench for the visitors today - says he is looking forward to "catching up" with his former team-mates when he returns to Ashton Gate in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Bentley made more than 100 appearances for the Robins and captained the side before leaving in January 2023 for the Premier League outfit.

"I got married in the summer and Pringy [Cameron Pring] was at the wedding as well - someone I still speak to regularly. I spoke to him a couple of days ago," Bentley told BBC Radio Bristol's Sound of the City.

"There's still countless lads there that I always got on really well with who I will be looking forward to catching up with. Staff as well - real stalwarts of that club who help the club tick over.

"One of the Wolves lads Matt Doherty said to me the other day, 'are you going to get booed when you go back to Bristol City?' and I was like 'I'm not entirely sure'. I don't think so - maybe a little bit tongue in cheek.

"Whatever they decide to do is fine - it doesn't change my affection towards them."

Lincoln City have progressed from just five of their 34 FA Cup third round ties in club history, last achieving that feat in 2017 when they defeated Ipswich Town in a replay as a non-league side.

That was the campaign in which Lincoln, then a National League team under Danny Cowley, became the first non-league club in the modern era to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, beating Premier League opposition in Burnley along the way before losing away to Arsenal.

Image source, Getty Images

We are guaranteed at least three League One clubs in the fourth round of the FA Cup this season.

Wycombe Wanderers booked their spot last night by shocking Championship side Portsmouth 2-0, and they will be joined today by either third division leaders Birmingham City, or Lincoln City - currently 12th in the third tier.

Birmingham beat Lincoln 3-1 in the league in October and are two points clear at the top, so start this game as favourites.

Mansfield v Wigan is another all-League One tie, which now takes place on Tuesday due to a frozen pitch at Field Mill.

Neil Johnston
BBC Sport

Two months ago, Josh Woods was sitting in the Kop at Anfield cheering Liverpool to a Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen and singing You'll Never Walk Alone.

Accrington Stanley's 24-year-old forward is a Liverpool fan who grew up idolising Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

He still watches them whenever he can but on Saturday, thanks to the FA Cup, he will get to share a pitch with his boyhood team.

Woods will step out at Anfield with League Two Accrington when they take on the Premier League leaders in the third round.

"When I go and watch Liverpool I always think to myself, 'I'd love to play at Anfield one day'," he tells BBC Sport.

"Now it's about to happen. Dreams do come true."

You can read Neil's full interview with Josh here.

Image source, Getty Images

In case you missed were not aware, there are no replays from the first round of the FA Cup onwards this season. So if any game finishes level after 90 minutes today, it's straight to extra time and penalties.

Despairing traditionalists will at least be sated by the fact that there is no VAR in any match today either. It will not be used in the FA Cup until round five.

Highly rated winger Ben Doak, who is on loan at Middlesbrough from Liverpool, is not in the Boro squad today.

Doak has been linked with a permanent move this month to a Premier League club following an impressive first half of the season on Teeside.

"There's interest and there's no getting away from that," Carrick told BBC Radio Tees. "But there's nothing for me to confirm either way at the moment."

For the full listings of the FA Cup third round ties taking place today, click the scores tab at the top of this live text.

It's eight hours - potentially more - of wall-to-wall football action. Forget Christmas Day, this is the most wonderful time of the year.