Manchester United welcome Leicester City to Old Trafford aiming to be the first team to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup.
The two sides have played one another 139 times, with the Red Devils coming out on top on 72 occasions.
There have also been 36 wins for the Foxes and 31 draws in the fixture.
Here are three plotlines to digest before the cup match.
The return of Ruud van Nistelrooy
The Dutchman is a legend and a hero of the Stretford End. Leicester’s manager scored 150 goals in 219 appearances winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup during his time at Old Trafford.
He also joined the coaching team in the summer and was an assistant manager to Erik ten Hag for a few months.
Van Nistelrooy landed his dream job in October when Ten Hag was sacked and he was named interim manager. The Red Devils won three and drew the other of his four matches in charge, including a 5-2 win over Leicester in the Carabao Cup. He would later leave the club when Ruben Amorim was announced as manager and took up the job at the King Power Stadium.
Today’s match will mark Ruud’s first return to Old Trafford as an opposition coach and he has already spoken on how he knows the United side inside out after his time working with the current squad.
Whatever the score tonight, one thing is assured, the visiting manager will receive a great reception from the Stretford End and whole stadium.
United looking to beat the same team three times at home in a season
The cup draws have presented United with a rather unusual opportunity.
The Red Devils have already beaten Leicester City 3-0 in the league.
As previously mentioned, they disposed of the Foxes 5-2 in Van Nistelrooy’s first match as interim coach.
Due to the FA Cup draw and the rarity of playing the same team in both cups, they have been presented with the opportunity to win a third match of the season at Old Trafford against the same opposition.
According to the BBC, “they’ve never won three home games against one club in a season before, with Man City against Chelsea in 2022-23 the last time a Premier League side did so against a fellow top-flight opponent.”
Bruno Fernandes’ fine FA Cup form
The Portuguese international is usually at the heart of what United do right and he has a great recent record in this competition.
The attacking midfielder “has been involved in 10 goals in his last 10 FA Cup appearances for Manchester United (7 goals, 3 assists).”
He scored a great goal in United’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the previous round and also converted his penalty in the shootout victory.
Fernandes was also pivotal in last year’s FA Cup success as he scored a goal and provided an assist in the semi-final versus Coventry City.
The Portugal international also produced a wonderfully disguised pass to find Kobbie Mainoo for United’s decisive second goal in the 2-1 win over Manchester City in the final.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
