Manchester United return to action in the Emirates FA Cup on Friday evening, welcoming Chris Wilder’s Middlesbrough to Old Trafford in the fourth round of the competition. United beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the third round with Boro beating Mansfield Town 3-2.
United have not played for almost a fortnight, beating West Ham United 1-0 in their last match which was played on the 22 January whereas Boro last played on the 29 January, beating Coventry City 1-0 in the Championship. This will be a tough match for both teams.
United’s season has not been the best, seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s management career end at the club back in November 2021 and Michael Carrick stepping in for three matches before ultimately leaving the club as Ralf Rangnick was announced as the interim manager.
It was expected that United would have used the January transfer window to strengthen the squad, instead three first team players ended up leaving the club on loan with Anthony Martial heading to Sevilla, Donny van de Beek heading to Everton and Amad Diallo heading to Rangers.
Manchester United:
Henderson;
Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw;
Fernandes, McTominay, Pogba;
Sancho, Ronaldo, Rashford
Substitutes:
Grant, Heaton; Jones, Wan-Bissaka; Mata, Fred, Matic, Hannibal; Elanga
Middlesbrough:
Lumley;
Dijksteel, Fry, McNair;
Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor;
Balogun, Sporar
Substitutes:
Daniels, Payero, Peltier, Wood, Watmore, Bamba, Connolly, Coburn, Boyd-Munce
United and Middlesbrough have met 126 times in competitive competition. United have won 64 times, drawing 28 times and losing 34 times. A total of 14 matches have been played in the FA Cup with United winning seven, drawing four and losing three times.
United have scored 24 goals in these matches with Boro scoring 13. The last defeat in the FA Cup against Boro came on the 26 January 2002, with the last defeat against them on the 28 October 2015, losing 3-0 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the fourth round of the League Cup.
Clayton Blackmore, Ritchie De Laet, Fabio da Silva, Mark Wilson, Victor Valdes, Gary Pallister, Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Jonathan Greening, Gary Walsh, Peter Davenport and Viv Anderson have all played for both United and Middlesbrough.
Currently, Paddy McNair is the only former United player currently playing for Boro and this will be the first time he has faced his former club. McNair, 26 left United in the summer of 2016 with Donald Love for £5.5 million then signed for Boro two years later for a fee that could reach £5 million.
Written by John Walker
