There's one new year tradition to which those of us who dragged ourselves back to work this week can look forward, namely the FA Cup third round, still among the most compelling few days in English football.

Dagenham & Redbridge, Scunthorpe United and a host of others have an opportunity to carve out a place in the football history books by knocking out teams several divisions above them in the pyramid.

From a punters’ perspective, however, the FA Cup has become rewardingly predictable: four teams have won 20 of the 24 finals contested since 1992 – a success ratio of 83%.

Backing Chelsea, priced at 7/1 (bet365), or last season’s winners Arsenal (7/1, Stan James) over that period would have offered astute punters a better-than-evens chance of success.

Add Manchester United (8/1, BetVictor.com) and Liverpool (13/2, Skybet) into the mix and almost all bases are covered.

Huddersfield Town’s enormous 250/1 odds (Skybet) are likely to shorten following Saturday’s third-round tie against Reading.

Town are 7/5 (Ladbrokes) to win through to the fourth round at the first time of asking, whereas the Royals are quoted at 19/10 (Winner.com) to repeat the victory they enjoyed at the same stage of the competition last season.

Elsewhere, Paddy Power quote Town at 12/5 to win without conceding, while backing the stalemate (11/5, William Hill) will appeal to those not expecting to see full-strength line-ups.

However Ladbrokes’ 10/1 for Town to win 2-0 is one of the correct score market’s most well-backed outcomes.

Sponsored by Sportsbookofthemonth.com

This week’s offer: Win a signed copy of Shankly’s Village by Adam Powley & Robert Gillan. Visit www.sportsbookofthemonth.com for further details.