The FA Cup third round draw takes place this evening (Monday), with the Blues set to discover our first opponents in this season's competition.
It is in the third round that clubs from the Premier League and Championship enter the FA Cup, providing sides further down the English football pyramid with the possibility of taking on one of the game's elite.
The Blues, who have lifted the FA Cup on eight occasions, hosted League Two Morecambe at this stage of the competition last season.
We will discover this year's opponents tonight and here is everything you need to know ahead of the FA Cup third round draw.
The draw will take place on Monday 8 December, ahead of the final second-round tie between Brackley Town and Burton Albion.
It will begin at approximately 6.40pm UK time.
How can I watch the FA Cup third round draw?
--------------------------------------------
The draw, which will be hosted by Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist and conducted by former Blue Joe Cole and Peter Crouch, will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+ in the UK.
It will also be streamed live on the TNT Sports YouTube channel.
Premier League and Championship clubs enter the competition in the third round and will join the sides who made it through the earlier stages. There are 64 teams in total in the third-round draw.
What are the FA Cup third round draw ball numbers?
--------------------------------------------------
1\. AFC Bournemouth2. Arsenal3. Aston Villa4. Birmingham City5. Blackburn Rovers6. Brentford7. Brighton & Hove Albion 8. Bristol City 9. Burnley 10. Charlton Athletic
**11\. Chelsea**
12\. Coventry City 13. Crystal Palace14. Derby County 15. Everton 16. Fulham 17. Hull City18. Ipswich Town 19. Leeds United 20. Leicester City21. Liverpool 22. Manchester City 23. Manchester United24. Middlesbrough 25. Millwall 26. Newcastle United 27. Norwich City 28. Nottingham Forest 29. Oxford United 30. Portsmouth 31. Preston North End 32. Queens Park Rangers 33. Sheffield United 34. Sheffield Wednesday 35. Southampton 36. Stoke City 37. Sunderland 38. Swansea City 39. Tottenham Hotspur 40. Watford 41. West Bromwich Albion 42. West Ham United 43. Wolverhampton Wanderers 44. Wrexham 45. Macclesfield 46. Grimsby Town 47. Shrewsbury Town 48. Swindon Town 49. Weston-super-Mare 50. Barnsley 51. Boreham Wood 52. Milton Keynes Dons53. Wigan Athletic 54. Fleetwood Town 55. Salford City56. Mansfield Town57. Cambridge United 58. Brackley Town or Burton Albion 59. Blackpool60. Walsall61. Exeter City62. Cheltenham Town 63. Doncaster Rovers
64\. Port Vale
When will the FA Cup third round be played?
-------------------------------------------
The third round will be played around the weekend of Saturday 10 January 2026.