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Manchester United and Arsenal will put their Premier League title bids on hold this weekend when they meet in the quarter-final of the FA Cup.
The winner of the contest at Old Trafford will be automatically installed as the favourite to lift the FA Cup come May.
Victory would certainly be a huge step towards silverware for either side.
Both teams have been inconsistent of late. Arsenal were defeated in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, held at home to Sunderland in the league and crashed out of the Champions League to Barcelona on Tuesday evening.
Manchester United may well still have their place in the Champions League, but their league form has suffered with defeats to Wolves, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men now only hold a three point lead over Arsenal, with the Gunners having played a game less. To say it is tight at the top would be an understatement!
As mentioned though, it is all about the FA Cup this weekend. Victory wouldn’t help either side in terms of points, but it would give them a physiological edge over their opponents and much needed momentum going into the final stages of the season.
Manchester United will be favourites to emerge victorious, largely down to them holding the home advantage. In big games like this between two evenly matched teams, this could end up making the difference.
Arsenal will be without captain Cesc Fabregas too after he picked up a hamstring strain at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, so this weighs in United’s favour too.
However, confidence is more fragile than usual in the Old Trafford camp after two disappointing results and it is unclear how they will respond in front of their home fans.
It is certainly set to be a cracking game, without the pressure of league points at stake. Perhaps both sides will play with plenty of freedom and look to take the game to their opponents.
Should this be the case, it could well be a classic.
