Fans who were hoping to visit a new stadium or face a team Watford rarely play got exactly the opposite as the Hornets were drawn away to fellow Championship side Reading in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

The two sides have played each other more than 150 times in their history, making Reading one of Watford’s most frequently faced opponents.

FA Cup Third round ties will be played between Friday January 6 and Monday January 9, and there are replays in both the third and fourth rounds.

The Hornets beat the Royals at Vicarage Road last month when a pair of Joao Pedro goals secured a 2-0 victory.

The two sides have met four times in the FA Cup, although the most recent of those was when Watford beat Reading 5-0 at Vicarage Road in January 1971. Barry Endean scored a hat-trick for the Hornets.

Other than that, though, Watford have not beaten Reading in the other three meetings, the last trip to Berkshire in the FA Cup ended in a 3-1 defeat in the First Round in November 1964.

Watford have a decent recent record at The Select Car Leasing Stadium (or The Madejski Stadium as most people know it). Although they lost there in the Championship in 2020, before that they were unbeaten in six league and cup visits.

Should the Hornets progress, the Fourth Round is on the weekend of January 28/29, and if Watford get as far as the Fifth Round, those matches will be played in midweek on or around March 1.

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