Man Utd v Reading FA Cup preview: Ten Hag aims to avoid upset
After the disappointment of falling 11 points behind the pace in the league last weekend when they lost at leaders Arsenal, manager Erik ten Hag was pleased with the response at Forest, stating they ‘have to do everything to bring a trophy in’.
Attention now turns to the FA Cup which holds a dear place in United’s heart too, lifting the iconic trophy 12 times in their history - second only to Arsenal’s 14.
Progress in this year’s competition depends on seeing off lower-league side Reading, something they’ve managed twice in the last six years at Old Trafford.
Confidence of achieving that feat again is bound to be high, with United winning each of their last ten home games, conceding just four goals along the way.
United were eliminated at this stage last season by a Championship side however, something which should give the Royals hope of pulling off an upset.
Visiting manager Paul Ince returns to his former stomping ground looking to restore some of the early-season positivity around Reading, as they’ve now failed to win any of their last four Championship games (D2, L2).
Their latest setback was a 4-0 thumping at Stoke which saw them fall even further behind in the play-off race and infuriated Ince, stating his players ‘let the club down’.
A solid performance in Manchester could go some way to making up for that display but victory still appears highly unlikely, given that Reading have failed to win an away FA Cup tie against Premier League opposition since 2011 (1-0 v Everton).
Key battle: After becoming the record appearance holder for a Brazilian in Manchester United’s history, Fred may be in line to return and looking to improve his record of never losing when he’s scored for the club (W7, D2). The visitors may turn to the manager’s son, Tom Ince, to provide firepower as he’s netted six goals this season, five of which arrived after half-time.
Hot stat: Reading have failed to win any of the last 17 H2H meetings with United (D4, L13), with eight of those defeats coming in the FA Cup!
