FA Cup preview: Manchester United v Wigan

James M.
Jan 30, 2017
3 min read

Fresh from reaching the EFL Cup final against Southampton with a 3-2 aggregate win over Hull City, we are back in FA Cup action at Old Trafford, this time against Wigan Athletic.

After seeing off Reading earlier last month, we’ll be looking to continue the defence of our cup against a Wigan side now managed by our former Reserve coach Warren Joyce.

Warren Joyce makes his first return to Old Trafford after leaving for Wigan in November.

The former Reds coach will surely get a warm reception after winning multiple titles with the Under 21 side, while also nurturing our youth players including Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj into the first team.

Early team news

Jose Mourinho has already confirmed that Sergio Romero, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw will all start while David de Gea will have two days off.

Eric Bailly will be part of the squad after his exploits in the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Everyone else is fit and available for selection.

The boss reiterated that he'll field a strong side capable of getting the job done against the Championship side that has spent most of the season in the relegation zone.

The Latics themselves boast a host of former United players including Reece James, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Ravel Morrison and the injured Nick Powell.

The Reds faced Wigan last July in a pre-season friendly at the DW stadium where Henrikh Mkhitaryan impressed on his debut in the 2-0 win.

What are the managers and players saying

Jose Mourinho: "It's another difficult game against Wigan. "They didn't play, they are fresh, preparing and will be ready with special motivation for Warren [Joyce] and his players. "Now we go home and have to prepare again. We will change some players and give some opportunities, some fresh legs to the team and, hopefully, we can do it."

Warren Joyce on Marcus Rashford: "There are certain tick boxes for the X factor players. Some - like Pogba - tick every box."Marcus is in that same category as Pogba. He's a good footballer as well as a goalscorer. He's clever, he's tough, he's quick."

Antonio Valencia: Having made his name at Wigan before Sir Alex Ferguson brought him to Old Trafford, our in-form man had this to say. "I had such great team-mates alongside me on that journey, guys like [Emile] Heskey and Boycey [Emmerson Boyce].

Everyone in the dressing room helped me tremendously as I managed to settle in well and become part of the team. Also the supporters were great, the stadium was always full with our fans getting behind us and driving us on. It was a small town with a massively big heart."

Antonio Valencia scored against Wigan in a 5-0 league win at Old Trafford in 2009.

Opta Stats

Man United

United have won 17 of their last 18 encounters against Wigan, losing the only one, in 2012 in a premier league fixture.
United are aiming to reach the fifth round of the competition for the fourth time in the last 5 seasons. They can also move ahead of Arsenal as the most successful team to lift the cup if they can lift a 13th crown.
This will be United's 56th consecutive televised FA Cup tie.
Jose Mourinho has won all of his four previous competitive matches against Wigan as a manager.
Manchester United have scored 28 goals in eight home games against Wigan in all competitions. Wigan has only managed one cleansheet in their encounters with United.
The Red Devils have scored four goals on six occasions, and five on three occasions against Wigan.
United have been eliminated from just one of their last 40 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division: Leeds United in 2009-10.
United have won nine of their last 12 games in all competitions drawing 2.
The Red Devils have progressed from 11 of their last 12 fourth-round ties in the FA Cup, losing only to Liverpool in 2011-12.
Wayne Rooney has scored 10 goals in 15 previous games against Wigan, including braces in three of those matches. He also scored his 100th United goal against the Latics. His total goal tally in the FA Cup stands at 22.

Wigan Athletic

Wigan have progressed from five of their last six games against top-flight sides in the FA Cup, failing only to do so in the 2013-14 semi-final against Arsenal.
They have won their last 3 games in a row, after losing the previous 6.
They have played Manchester United away on eight previous occasions, losing each game with an aggregate score of 1.28