Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Manchester United to Molineux for the first time in the FA Cup in 14 years.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will be hoping the for the opposite result however this Saturday. In that fixture in January 2006, Wolves - under Glenn Hoddle - suffered a 3-0 defeat to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in the fourth round, thanks to a Kieran Richardson brace intersected by a goal from Louis Saha.
Wolves, who have been in exceptional form this season since being promoted from the Championship to the top tier in 17/18, will be hoping to reach their first semi-final in 21 years. In 1997/98 they saw off Leeds United before ultimately being defeated in their last-four time to Arsenal, a 1-0 result at Villa Park (remember those happy days when Semi-Finals weren’t played at Wembley…).
If Wolves do achieve victory over Manchester United, who are hoping to reach the FA Cup semi-finals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2003/04 and 04/05, they will have won three consecutive FA Cup matches for the first time in 16 years, since February 2003, as well as achieving victory over United for the first time since 2016.
Manchester United however, have won seven of their last nine games against Wolves and are on a long-stretching roll away from home in the FA Cup.
Thanks to their march to the Final last year - where they were ultimately defeated by Chelsea - they can make it a big fat round 10 away wins from their last 11 away matches. The only defeat - again against Chelsea - came in the 2016/17 Quarter-Finals.
After their opening round home win against Reading, brilliant victories against Arsenal and Chelsea - at the Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge, respectively - have got them this far.
They’ll be a few personal achievements on the line as well for certain individuals.
Stellar Man Utd academy product, the insatiable Marcus Rashford, can hit his half century career goals with a brace at Molineux.
His teammate Anthony Martial, who could make his first start since recovering from a groin injury suffered in the Champions League first-leg to Paris Saint-Germain in mid-Feb, can double that tally, hitting the 100, with his own pair.
Their gaffer should be striving to maintain his own impressive record in the competition. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has an 100% away win record in the FA Cup, having won twice on the road whilst managing Cardiff City in 2013/14 and, of course, twice this season with the Red Devils.
Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Manchester United kicks off at 19:55(GMT) on Saturday 16th March 2019.
