Manchester City's FA Cup third round trip to League Two side Swindon Town has been confirmed for live TV coverage in the New Year.
City are currently 73 places higher than their fourth-tier opponents, and will travel to the County Ground as they look to go one better than last season's semi-final defeat.
Pep Guardiola's side are no stranger to facing lower league opposition, with trips to Cheltenham and Newport in recent years, as well as clashes with Port Vale, Oxford and Burton Albion in the two domestic cup competitions.
After being drawn with Swindon this year, the clash has been selected for live TV coverage by ITV, with the tie to take place on Friday January 7.
The match will kick-off at 8pm and will be broadcast live on ITV1.
Crucially, that gives City an extra day or two to prepare for a Premier League showdown with Chelsea the following weekend at the Etihad. Plus, should Chelsea reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals, they would have two extra fixtures to contend with either side of their own FA Cup third-round fixture with Chesterfield and before the City clash.
City's January schedule now looks like this:
- Jan 1 - Arsenal (A - BT Sport)
- Jan 7 - Swindon (A - ITV Sport, FA Cup)
- Jan 15 - Chelsea (H - BT Sport)
- Jan 22 - Southampton (A - Sky Sports)
There will be a 'winter break' on the weekend of January 28, before a potential FA Cup fourth-round tie on the weekend of February 5-6. City then return to Premier League action against Brentford on February 9.
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