Manchester United will look to cap off a good week when they face Blackburn Rovers in the 5th round of the FA Cup fixtures. They have virtually booked a place in the next round of the Europa League after a comfortable 3-0 win over St. Etienne, where a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick saw them through without breaking too much sweat. Jose Mourinho’s plan to play a strong side worked out fine and now they will likely rotate heavily in the return leg. They are in with a strong chance to lift the EFL trophy as they have progressed to the finals and play a struggling Southampton side and a good run in the FA Cup and Europa League will give him an opportunity to try out a number of fringe players with a likely summer clear out on the cards.
And while there will be a number of changes from Jose Mourinho, they are still expected to get the better of a beleaguered Blackburn Rovers side who are 2nd from bottom in the Championship. The unsettled club with the fans and owners at loggerheads will get a massive break if they can somehow show a good fight and invoke the magic of the Cup to pull off, what will be a bonafide upset.
TRIVIA
- The teams last met in the FA Cup in 1984-85 when Manchester United won 2-0 in the fifth round – they went on to win lift the trophy that season.
- Blackburn’s last FA Cup win against Manchester United was 2-0 at home in the 1927-28 sixth round. Rovers went on to win the cup that year.
- United are unbeaten in their last six visits to Blackburn (W3, D3).
- Blackburn have won just one of their last four matches (D1, L2).
- Rovers have lost only one of their last five games at Ewood Park in all competitions (W3 D1).
- Blackburn have won the FA Cup six times.
- Manchester United have won four of their last five matches in all competitions.
- United have lost just one of their previous nine away matches in all competitions (W6, D2).
- United have won both of their FA Cup ties this season by a 4-0 scoreline (against Championship teams Reading and Wigan).
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
BLACKBURN ROVERS (4-4-2)
Blackburn will be without Hope Akpan and Elliott Bennett, who are both banned, while Lucas Joao is cup-tied. On-loan forward Sam Gallagher also misses out after needing 12 stitches for a knee injury while Tommy Hoban and Corry Evans are not yet match-fit.
Steele; Lowe, Lenihan, Mulgrew, Williams; Mahoney, Guthrie, Evans, Feeney; Graham, Conway
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (illness), Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick (both muscle problems) are doubts after missing Manchester United’s Europa League win. But defender Phil Jones is hoping to be fit after a foot injury.
Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Schweinsteiger, Fellaini; Martial, Mata, Lingard; Rashford
BETTING ODDS
BLACKBURN ROVERS- 12/1
DRAW- 19/4
MANCHESTER UNITED- 2/7
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA
