Sunday 28 January: 3pm KO
Live on BT Sport
Now this is what the FA Cup is all about. A side struggling in League One up against a Premier League side going through a bad patch. Can Tranmere Rovers cause their second cup upset of the week and beat Manchester United?
Latest Odds
It’s the ticket office staff you have to feel sorry for in the lead up to this cup tie. It was on Thursday evening that Tranmere beat Watford in their FA Cup third round replay. Not bad considering the League One side were 3-0 down in the first match. Now they have just a few days to sell tickets for this fourth round tie against Manchester United.
You can get odds of 8/1 (9.0) on Tranmere to win this cup tie. They are in the League One relegation zone at present, two points from safety but two (soon to be three) games in hand. The past two seasons have seen them win promotion and are no strangers to causng cup upsets.
Manchester United come into this game having lost their last two matches. The knives are starting to get sharpened for Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. He’s currently available at 8/11 (1.72) at William Hill to be the next Premier League manager to leave his club. A loss to Tranmere might just be his last game in charge.
United will field a weakened side of course but even so a defeat would be a disaster. With a Carabao Cup exit likely in midweek, their chances of silverware would be just the Europa League. United are 7/20 (1.35) to win this game.
Head-to-Head
There have only been one previous senor meetings. That saw United beat Rovers 5-0 at home in a League Cup tie played in 1976. There was a Football League Trophy match played last month. Tranmere beat Manchester United U21 3-2 in front of 652 people. Chong scored both United’s goals and he might just get a game on Sunday. He’s 3/1 (4.0) at SkyBet to score in this FA Cup tie.
Team News
Manchester United will make several team changes with the Carabao Cup semi-final being played three days later.
Prediction
United dare not lose this game. It’ll be played on a dodgy pitch that’ll get even worse if it’s a wet weekend. United will play a weakened line-up but should be able to get a win. A bet on them winning with over 1.5 goals in the game has odds of 8/15 (1.52) at Ladbrokes.
