THE iconic, if somewhat cliché-riddled FA Cup third round is upon us, spread over five days and featuring teams from the summit of the Premier League right down to the National League South, and when picking out potential upsets something odd comes to light.

It is not in the amount of possible giant-killings where that oddness resides, pairings which get the spidey senses tingling that something special may be afoot. In this instance there are four feasible upsets and that seems like a perfectly reasonable number.

No, what is strange is that each one of these four fancied underdogs are playing away from home.

This goes directly against one of the most established tropes from the many that this tournament has to offer, that home advantage is a crucial factor in a team getting the better of their betters.

It is all too easy to picture the scenario. A big club goes to a tight, hostile ground and subsequently come undone when facing agricultural fare played on a surface more suitable for scrambling. The goalkeeper hears chants that take him back to an early loan stint at Aldershot. The superstar forward gets kicked to kingdom come.

A set-piece wins it and cue utter carnage.

That’s how a FA Cup upset is supposed to go down but of course football has dramatically changed in modern times, and to put that into context, consider this. On 36 occasions over the last five seasons a team have triumphed over an opposition at least one division higher. Nineteen have come at home, but 17 have been won away.

An acca backing all four of our awayday outsiders offers up stupendous odds. Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Walsall and Wrexham all to win gets 2024 off to an almighty bang at 900/1

Which brings us to Bristol City taking on West Ham this Sunday afternoon, a match-up that would undoubtedly see the Championship side more fancied if the contest was staged amidst a packed and ferocious Ashton Gate. As it is, Liam Manning’s men head to the capital to face an in-form Hammers collective who are currently sixth after beating Manchester United and Arsenal over Christmas.

A high-flying top-flight giant at home to a team mid-table in the Championship. That’s as straightforward as it gets, right?

Perhaps not given that the Robins are a much improved proposition under Manning, in recent weeks getting to grips with his high-pressing, possession-based mandate.

On Boxing Day, they emphatically beat Watford at Vicarage Road and moreover, City have retained the defensive attributes drilled into them by Manning’s predecessor Nigel Pearson.

Only three sides have conceded fewer goals in the second tier.

From the Hammers’ perspective, David Moyes has previous for making sweeping changes for cup competitions, and frankly beyond the first eleven there is a notable drop-off in quality. This we saw evidenced at Anfield in the League Cup a fortnight back.

Here, Moyes’ hand is forced anyway, with Lucas Paqueta out and Mohammed Kudos and Kurt Zouma both 50/50 calls and likely consigned to the bench. All three have been pivotal in West Ham’s revival of late.

Tommy Conway has notched three in seven for the Robins and converted 20% of their total this season. Back him to score anytime at 17/4

If City are hoping to pull of a minor shock in London, their local rivals Bristol Rovers have similar aspirations in East Anglia.

With Joey Barton sacked and presently touring the nineteen-seventies, Matt Taylor has taken on the reins at the Memorial Stadium, swiftly hauling them up from relegation candidacy to a mid-table berth.

The Pirates have lost only two in six under the 41-year-old and though they’re finding clean sheets hard to come by, keeping just one shut-out since early October, in veteran striker Chris Martin they possess a genuine threat who boasts the best goal conversion rate of anyone in League One. Returning to the club where he first broke through, making over a hundred appearances for Norwich way back when, Martin has converted every 123 minutes this term.

As for the Canaries, they have failed to get past the third round in 17 of the last 25 seasons while no team have conceded more first-half goals (23) in the Championship in 2023/24.

A compounding of a troublesome campaign for the hosts awaits.

Back Rovers to be ahead at the break at 17/4

Heading south we encounter a potential upset that collides head-on with logic.

Unbeaten in 18, Southampton have been consistently excellent for several months now, clawing back a hefty deficit to find themselves just three points off an automatic spot in the Championship. For precisely this reason, they are vulnerable to receiving an unexpected jolt this weekend.

Because with promotion the be all and end all for the South Coast club will Russell Martin welcome any sort of cup run distracting them? Let’s face it, promotion-chasing sides exiting the FA Cup early on is hardly an unknown phenomenon.

Moreover, Russell will likely see the visit of Walsall as an ideal opportunity to rest a few key players in dire need of a break. Between them, Jan Bednarek, Kyle Walker-Peters and 13-goal man Adam Armstrong have played 6629 minutes this term.

Then there’s the Saddlers to consider who, along with Tranmere, are the form team in League Two right now. Last Monday, they walloped Grimsby 6-1 away, a comprehensive victory that can be added to an impressive canon of results in recent weeks, beating three of the top six.

Enjoying a revival from December on, Walsall have averaged 2.5 goals per 90 since, a prolificacy helped by teenager Freddie Draper reaching double figures for the season.

Lastly, it should be noted that the Saints have hardly been saintly in 2023/24, as they languish second from bottom of the fair play table.

Back any Walsall player to be last goal-scorer at 14/5

To complete our quartet of outsiders, we have Wrexham, and such has been the nature of their documented rise that beating Shrewsbury at the New Meadow this Sunday arguably won’t even feel like much of an upset. All the same, a whole league separates them.

Though stoically mid-table, the Shrews have found goals hard to come by this term, scoring fewer than two teams dwelling in the drop-zone, but that certainly hasn’t been a problem for the visitors. With another promotion in their sights, Wrexham have fired three-plus goals in just shy of a third of their league fixtures, with Elliot Lee and Paul Mullin accruing 28 goal involvements combined.

We only need look back to last season, and the Dragons’ cup exploits at Coventry and against Sheffield United to know that a short trip down the A5 won’t hold any fears for a club very much on the up.

Back Wrexham over 1.5 goals at 57/50

Please remember to gamble responsibly. Visit our Safer Gambling section for more information, help and advice.