[FA Cup Preview] Norwich City vs. Manchester United

Oh right……

Along with the weekly Premier League matches, the FA Cup is starting back up as well this weekend, three months since United’s last FA Cup match, a fifth-round tie against Derby County at Pride Park.

Manchester United head to Carrow Road to face Norwich City in the quarter-finals of the competition.

United are hoping to ride the scoring wave of Anthony Martial’s hat-trick performance against Sheffield United on Wednesday night. Also, hopefully United can extend a 13-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, coming off the back of their first win since lockdown this weekend.

Thankfully with the tremendous amount of matches in such a short time, United have stayed relatively healthy (knocking on wood as I type) with only Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones out due to unspecified injuries.

The lineup could look completely different than it did on Wednesday, with the possibility of Odion Ighalo getting the start up front with the likes of Mason Greenwood and possibly Dan James.

Expect Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba to be on the bench or not even make the trip to stay healthy for the Champions League push, as the season picks up next week. 

The midfield could look something like this, Fred, Mata, and Matic and the backline setting up with Williams, Lindelof, Bailly, and Dalot.

Cup keeper is, of course, Sergio Romero

Norwich have struggled with injuries all season long, with the backline especially depleted.

Christoph Zimmerman, Sam Byram, and Grant Hanley are all out for the remainder of the season, and the Canaries will be short-handed in this one. They cannot afford to do the same kind of squad rotation that United will inevitably do with their lineup.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are undefeated since January and with the injuries the Canaries are facing, the undefeated streak has a good chance of continuing. 

United have already beaten Daniel Farke’s relegation-threatened side twice in the Premier League this season, with a 3-1 result in Norfolk followed up by a 4-0 thrashing at Old Trafford.