United, Arsenal eye Cup progress

LONDON – Manchester United will hope there are no lingering ill-effects from their recent Premier League setback at Tottenham Hotspur when they host Fulham in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.

Friday, January 25, 2013
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov return to Old Trafford when he leads the line for Fulham. Net photo.

SaturdayStoke City     vs     Man City    14:45 Bolton     vs     Everton     17:00Brighton     vs     ArsenalDerby County     vs     Blackburn Huddersfield     vs     Leicester City Hull City     vs     BarnsleyMacclesfield     vs     Wigan Middlesbrough vs     Aldershot Town,Norwich City     vs     Luton Town QPR     vs     MK Dons Reading     vs     Sheffield Utd Man United     vs     Fulham     19:30SundayBrentford     vs     Chelsea     14:00 Leeds United     vs     Tottenham     16:00 Oldham     vs Liverpool     18:00LONDON – Manchester United will hope there are no lingering ill-effects from their recent Premier League setback at Tottenham Hotspur when they host Fulham in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.United conceded an injury-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw at a snowy White Hart Lane last weekend, allowing champions Manchester City to breathe new life into the title race by cutting their rivals’ lead to five points.United have gone nine years without winning the FA Cup, leading manager Alex Ferguson to state that he wants his side "to try and have a go” at it in the current campaign.To that end, he will find little discouragement in Fulham’s recent form.Martin Jol’s men, who squeezed past Blackpool after a third-round replay, have collected just 12 points from a possible 45 in the Premier League; a run that has seen them slide to 14th in the English top flight.The United squad have spent the week in Qatar for a warm-weather training camp ahead of Saturday’s reunion with former striker Dimitar Berbatov.The Bulgarian is expected to make his first appearance at Old Trafford since leaving the club in the close season and United defender Phil Jones is looking forward to pitting himself against his former teammate."It’ll be great to see Berba back at Old Trafford. Technically he’s a fantastic player,” he said."The FA Cup is a great competition and one we want to win. We want to go as far as we can. It’s a competition I’ve always admired.Arsenal, without a trophy of any description since beating United on penalties in the 2005 final, will hope to carry their mid-week momentum into the cup when they visit second-tier Brighton and Hove Albion. Brighton knocked out Newcastle United in the third round, but Arsenal go into the game on the back of a 5-1 thrashing of West Ham United on Wednesday that reinvigorated their challenge for Champions League qualification."I never felt that the players didn’t know how important it is,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.As in the previous round, the draw for round four was low on all-Premier League confrontations, with Manchester City’s trip to Stoke City the only other tie to feature two top-flight clubs.Stoke were thrashed 4-0 by Chelsea in their last home game but they boast an excellent home record against City, who have not won at the Britannia Stadium on their last six visits.