Plymouth Argyle

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

Plymouth are another managerless club. They also have a terrible defensive record this season so you really fear for them here, off the back of Brentford's 5-0 win at Southampton last weekend.

The Bees are definitely going to bag a few more goals here too. Plymouth have not won away all season and have only scored three times on the road, and this is going to be a very difficult day for them all round.

Billy's prediction: 3-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Kevin Nancekivell says he wants Plymouth Argyle to create more FA Cup memories when his side faces Brentford on Saturday.

The Pilgrims can put their recent league difficulties to one side as they head to the Premier League club in the third round.

Nancekivell is in interim charge as the Championship's bottom side search for a new head coach to replace Wayne Rooney.

Brentford are the third top-flight side the Pilgrims have faced in the past decade, having taken Liverpool to a replay in 2017 and narrowly losing in extra time at then-European champions Chelsea in 2022.

Plymouth's best-ever finish in the competition was reaching the semi-finals in 1983-84 when they were beaten 1-0 by Graham Taylor's Watford at Villa Park.

"The FA Cup is special to everybody," Nancekivell told BBC Radio Devon.

"This football club, one of its biggest days was 1984 and the FA Cup semi final, so we want more days like that.

"We've had some good days at Arsenal, we've had some good days against Liverpool, Chelsea wasn't so long ago as well.

"So we want to build on that and we want to add Brentford to that list of achievements.

"We're under no illusions how difficult the task is going to be, but we've got no fear at the minute.

"We can go up there, we can take away the pressures of the league, enjoy ourselves and see what we can do."

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford have never beaten Plymouth in the FA Cup in nine previous meetings (drawn three, lost six) - most recently a 2-1 defeat in a first-round replay in 1998-99.

Image source, Getty Images

Plymouth Argyle interim manager Kevin Nancekivell says he is excited by the prospect of record signing Michael Baidoo making his debut.

The 25-year-old Ghana forward moved to the club from Swedish side Elfsborg last week and has been settling into life in Devon.

Baidoo is expected to play at some point in the FA Cup third round tie away at Premier League side Brentford on Saturday as the Pilgrims try and turn their poor form around.

Argyle, who are bottom of the Championship, have not won a game in 14 matches and saw head coach Wayne Rooney leave the club on 31 December.

"He's going to be an exciting player for us," Nancekivell said.

"He's a forward-thinking player, he can play as a frontman as a nine or he can play 10 or an eight, so he's technically very good.

"It'll be nice to get him up to speed to the rigours of English football and I've liked what I've seen so far."

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth Argyle have been boosted by striker Muhamed Tijani returning to light training.

The 24-year-old has featured just three times since his summer loan move from Slavia Prague, after a catalogue of injuries.

Having been hampered by hamstring and groin problems in August, he returned for one substitute appearance in September before suffering a serious hamstring tear.

The Nigerian, who has amassed less than 100 minutes of first-team action since arriving, is still two to three weeks away from joining in full training.

Meanwhile, fellow forward Ryan Hardie is likely to be out for between two and three weeks with a shoulder injury he suffered against Bristol City, but Mustapha Bundu could be in the squad to face Premier League side Brentford in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Sierra Leone international has not played since injuring his hamstring in the 4-0 loss at Coventry City on Boxing Day.

Former Norwich City boss David Wagner has walked away from talks to become Plymouth Argyle's new head coach. (Express, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip here.

Former Norwich City boss David Wagner has been in talks with Plymouth Argyle over their vacant managerial position. (Plymouth Herald, external)

Want more EFL transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column.

At least one new era will begin at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday (12:30 GMT) when Mark Robins takes charge of his first game since being installed as Potters boss, having watched their 0-0 draw at Burnley from the stands on New Year's Day.

It will be Plymouth's second match since parting ways with Wayne Rooney, with Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards having taken charge of the dramatic 2-2 draw against Bristol City to kick-off 2025.

Argyle remain bottom, effectively five points from safety, but City are too close for comfort, seven points ahead of Plymouth, but having played a game more.

• Stoke City have won their last two league meetings with Plymouth Argyle, last winning three in a row against the Pilgrims between March 1963 and October 1987 (four in a row).

• Plymouth have never won away to Stoke City in the Football League in 20 previous attempts (D6 L14); among current EFL fixtures, the only teams to go away to an opponent more often without earning a single victory are Mansfield (25 v Reading), Coventry (23 v Preston) and Blackburn (22 v Luton).

• Three of Stoke City's four home wins in the Championship this season have seen them net the winning goal in the final 15 minutes – the Potters could win back-to-back home matches for the first time this season.

• Plymouth have conceded more goals (35) and scored the joint-fewest goals (3) of any team away from home in England's top four tiers this season – the Pilgrims (2.69A, 0.23F) are currently only the second team in English league history to average more than 2.50 goals conceded per game and average fewer than 0.25 goals per game in an away campaign after Gainsborough Trinity in 1901-02 (3.23A 0.24F).

• For the third year in a row, Stoke City will have a different manager in the dugout for their first home match of the year (Alex Neil in 2023, Steven Schumacher in 2024).

Image source, Getty Images

Plymouth Argyle caretaker manager Kevin Nancekivell says Matthew Sorinola has deserved his recall to the side.

The 23-year-old full-back has started the last two matches having struggled to make an impact this season.

The former Milton Keynes Dons youngster moved to Argyle a year ago after leaving Belgian side Union St-Gilloise and had not played for a month before a substitute appearance on Boxing Day.

"Some players feel like it seems they're miles away from the starting 11, but it can change very quickly in the space of a few days," Nancekivell said.

"Matty's trained well every day, he always does, he's a great lad.

"He's kept himself fit and when he's come in his performances have shown his hard work that he's put in when he's not been in the team."