Newport County vs Manchester United LIVE: FA Cup team news and ...

It wouldn’t quite best Maidstone’s achievement yesterday but a win today would see Newport through to the fifth round for just the third time in the club’s history. The Welsh club have progressed from just two of their previous eight FA Cup fourth-round ties, doing so in their first (vs Huddersfield in 1948-49) and most recent such fixtures (vs Middlesbrough in 2018-19).

Reports have been swirling in the last few days regarding Marcus Rashford who is not in today’s matchday squad. The United boss was fairly tight-lipped when asked about it pre-match: “It’s an internal matter”. “I will deal with it”, he said.

This will be the first ever competitive meeting between Newport County and Manchester United. The Exiles have won just one of their last 23 meetings with top-flight opponents in all competitions (D7 L15), beating Leicester City 2-1 in the FA Cup in 2018-19.

Erik ten Hag says Manchester United are not in a position to underestimate any opponent as his stumbling side look to keep their hopes of silverware alive in Sunday’s FA Cup clash at Newport.

This has been a challenging second season in the hotseat for the Dutchman, whose side languish eighth in the Premier League and were eliminated from European competition before Christmas.

United’s Carabao Cup defence is also long since over, meaning the FA Cup takes on extra significance as their only potential route to a trophy in a disappointing campaign.

Finally, the curse was lifted. Manchester City are a magnificent team, the rightful champions of Europe and the world, but on this rectangular patch of ground in north London they have been a mixture of unfortunate, underwhelming and comically inept. Before tonight they had played five games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and lost them all, never even scoring a goal despite accumulating an xG of about 375. For 88 minutes here history rhymed, until Nathan Ake’s bundled late winner, a game won in the most un-Cityish of ways.

Pep Guardiola had been getting increasingly irate, so much so that he was booked for sarcastically applauding referee Paul Tierney during the second half of this FA Cup tie. He would have recognised some similar traits of games that had gone before here, in which City created chance after chance but could not alter the scoreboard. An early goal was chalked off by the barest of margins; Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku all missed prime chances.

But where Guardiola had come against stubborn defensive units in the past, deliberately designed to annoy him by Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte, this Ange Postecoglou team was never going to play that way. Tottenham tried to play their way, but they never managed to gain control and ultimately their open gameplan failed, albeit at the very last, at a corner, when so much hard work had been done. City won 1-0 and the defending champions will be in the hat for the fifth round.

Lawrence Ostlere from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:

Two Premier League teams who will face a replay to be in the fifth round are Chelsea and Aston Villa - here’s chief football writer Miguel Delaney and his assessment from the Stamford Bridge stalemate.

Yet if Everton claimed they merited a free kick when the Hatters took the lead and could point out that Cauley Woodrow’s decider came 14 seconds into the 96th minute – only five had been signalled – neither grievance had much weight. Luton had more cohesion and chances, more dynamism and drive. Perhaps they had more in reserve, too, with two substitutes, Luke Berry and Woodrow, playing pivotal parts in the decider.

If Sean Dyche’s sides tend to be set-piece specialists, they were beaten at their own game. Both Luton goals came from corners, just as they had prospered from dead-ball situations when achieving their maiden Premier League win at Goodison in September.

The visitors are here:

Before we get underway in Wales, let’s have a look back at some of the FA Cup stories of thw weekend so far. And where else to start but Portman Road, where Maidstone United pulled off one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of recent times as goals from Lamar Reynolds and Sam Corne sealed a 2-1 win over Championship promotion chasers Ipswich Town.

In the half-time break between Liverpool vs Norwich, the FA Cup fifth round draw has taken place.

The winner of this tie will face an away fixture against the winner of Bristol City vs Nottingham Forest which is set for a replay after the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Here’s the draw in full:

Blackburn/Wrexham v Newcastle

Chelsea/Aston Villa v Leeds/Plymouth

Bournemouth v Leicester

Liverpool/Norwich City v Watford/Southampton

Bristol City/Nottingham Forest v Newport County/Manchester United

Wolverhampton v Brighton & Hove Albion

Sheffield Wednesday/Coventry v Maidstone United

Luton Town v Manchester City