On the face of it, Manchester United at Liverpool is the irresistible FA Cup tie of the weekend, with needle all the sharper for the rancorous matches the two clubs have played of late. But don’t bank on it, for the contest could be muted this time as each club knows it has far bigger fish to fry next week when the European Champions’ League resumes intensely serious business. In that, Liverpool are defending champions, of course, while United are in fierce need of continental money-spinning progress not only to decorate their season but to relieve some debts of their American owners. Two other British sides in Europe, Arsenal and Rangers, benefit by having no domestic diversions left.
For home consumption, the FA Cup’s fifth round inspires a betting man to demand decent odds for an appetising treble — that three fizzy non-Premiership upstarts (Preston North End, Brentford and Stoke City) beat respectively the flat and distracted Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City.
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