United Await FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

The first step in Manchester United's quest to win the Emirates FA Cup in 2016 will be revealed this Monday evening when the draw for the third round will be made.

Louis van Gaal's side will be represented by ball no.25 in the procedure, which will take place at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff and will be shown live in the UK on BBC2 from 19:00 GMT. The resulting fixtures will be played between Friday 8 and Monday 11 January.

Other notable balls to look out for in the draw include no.2 (FA Cup holders Arsenal), no.13 (Chelsea), no.23 (Liverpool), no.24 (Manchester City) and no.62 - the winners of a replay between Hartlepool and Salford City, the non-league club co-owned by former United players Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes.

Four of those five, the younger Neville being the exception, played in the 2004 final against Millwall when United last won the competition for a then-record 11th time. Arsenal have since claimed the FA Cup on three occasions - in 2005, 2014 and 2015 - to edge ahead of the Reds with 12 triumphs. They knocked United out in last season's quarter-final at Old Trafford after van Gaal's men had beaten Yeovil, Cambridge and Preston in the third, fourth and fifth rounds respectively.

To find out who will be United's first FA Cup opponents in 2015/16, follow our Twitter account @ManUtd, go to ManUtd.com from 19:00 GMT, or join our SMS service (UK only) at manutd.com/alerts.

Emirates FA Cup: Third-round draw numbers

1 AFC Bournemouth , 2 Arsenal, 3 Aston Villa, 4 Birmingham, 5 Blackburn, 6 Bolton, 7 Brentford, 8 Brighton, 9 Bristol City, 10 Burnley, 11 Cardiff, 12 Charlton, 13 Chelsea, 14 Crystal Palace, 15 Derby, 16 Everton, 17 Fulham, 18 Huddersfield, 19 Hull, 20 Ipswich, 21 Leeds, 22 Leicester, 23 Liverpool, 24 Man City, 25 Manchester United, 26 Middlesbrough, 27 MK Dons, 28 Newcastle, 29 Norwich, 30 Nottingham Forest, 31 Preston, 32 QPR, 33 Reading, 34 Rotherham, 35 Sheffield Wednesday, 36 Southampton, 37 Stoke, 38 Sunderland, 39 Swansea, 40 Tottenham, 41 Watford, 42 West Brom, 43 West Ham, 44 Wolves, 45 Bradford, 46 Newport, 47 Peterborough, 48 Portsmouth, 49 Eastleigh, 50 Northampton, 51 Exeter, 52 Doncaster, 53 Grimsby or Shrewsbury, 54 Yeovil, 55 Bury, 56 Carlisle, 57 Leyton Orient or Scunthorpe, 58 Wycombe, 59 Colchester, 60 Chesterfield or Walsall, 61 Sheffield United, 62 Salford or Hartlepool, 63 Dagenham & Redbridge or Whitehawk, 64 Oxford United.