Sunday, 3rd January 2010 – KO: 13:00

In the last twenty-two years, only two teams outside the recognised “Big Four” have won the top English Division (now known as the Premier League). One was Blackburn in 1995, the other was Leeds in 1992.

That 1991-92 season was arguably the real starting point for Alex Ferguson and his reign as Manchester United.

We came second that season, just four points behind Leeds but Leeds had within their ranks a certain Eric Cantona.

In a bizarre twist, Leeds sold Cantona to us for a paltry £1 Million at the end of their Championship winning season and with Cantona and the “kids” coming through, we won four of the next five League titles (only missing out by the slenderest of margins to Blackburn in 1994-95).

Since that time, we have continued to pick up League titles, FA Cups, European Cups and League Cups. Leeds have only really gone downhill and those heady days of 1992 seem like every one of those eighteen long years ago.

In 2004, they were relegated to the Championship and then in 2007, they were relegated again to the First Division where they remain to this day.

Indeed, this is the first time that we have met Leeds since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2004.

Anyway, enough of the history lesson. This is 2010 and this is the FA Cup. Manchester United are ticking along as well as ever and Leeds are flying high at the top of the First Division and even have a game in hand over second placed Charlton.

If Leeds are on the brink of a revival, a win against one of their fiercest rivals in the FA Cup won’t do their cause any harm whatsoever.

It’s a bit tricky to determine exactly what kind of team Fergie will put out for this one. Our next game is the first leg of our Carling Cup tie against Manchester City and he still maintains that he will go with the “kids” for that one so there doesn’t seem to be much point in resting any of the “senior” players for this one but under normal circumstances, a game against a team two divisions lower than us would normally signal a few personnel changes.

Our defensive problems have eased somewhat over the last couple of weeks but it still appears as though Fergie has few options beyond Rafael, Vidic, Brown and Evra (De Laet and Fabio are the only two that spring to mind).

It is midfield that is likely to see a few changes and I would expect Anderson, Scholes, Giggs and one other to be given the nod here. If Nani does not feature in this game or the City game then I think we can safely assume that his days as a Manchester United player are just about over.

Upfront, Rooney and Berby are the preferred partnership but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Owen take his place alongside Berby.

As for Leeds, well, they seem to have a very balanced team. They are scoring plenty of goals and conceding few so far this season and their goal difference stands at +32.

I am sure they will come out feeling confident of an upset here and the first goal could be crucial. If we get the first goal, it could knock a bit of the stuffing out of Leeds, if they get the first goal, their confidence will soar, their fans will drive them on and it could be a tough day for us.

One thing is for certain, this game is not going to be the one-way traffic that we had against Wigan in our last game and Leeds are going to get stuck in from the off.

However, this is Old Trafford and Fergie has assembled a squad of such quality that even a tinkered team should have more than enough to cope with most visitors and I fully expect us to win this game.

The bookies give Leeds no chance and think we will win this by a clear two goal margin. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen but I do think it depends on the kind of team Fergie puts out. If it is anything like full strength (i.e. the team that destroyed Wigan) then this could be a 3-0 win. If there are a number of changes then this could be one of our stuttering performances with plenty of possession but little end product.

I am going to go with the Over bet here on the assumption that this will either be another goal fest for United or a close game where both teams will score at least once.

The bet is going to be 3 points Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.66 with Stan James

Fergie made plenty of changes and even sprung a couple of surprises with Neville and Evans making a re-appearance in defence alongside Brown and Fabio.

The midfield of Obertan, Anderson, Gibson and Welbeck was also quite surprising.

The strike partnership of Rooney and Berbatov was, I suppose, expected.

We started off well enough, pinging the passes around, a few runs here and there but, as we have seen on a few occasions so far this season when Fergie has over-tinkered, very little end product.

That said, there didn’t seem to be a great deal to get too alarmed about when Leeds took the lead after 19 minutes. We had shown enough to suggest that we were going to get back into the game but the minutes ticked by… and by… and by… and in the end, it felt just like the Besiktas game all over again. The difference between this game and the Besiktas game, however, is that this game really, really mattered.

It seems harsh to say so because if one player deserved a breather it was Evra but I think we missed him more than anybody out here today. Fabio did his best in the left back position but he’s a naturally right sided player and time and again he had to get the ball onto his right foot which often meant the difference between a great first time left footed ball and… well… nothing really.

Valencia came on after around sixty minutes and had an immediate impact and may have even been our best player despite only playing for thirty minutes.

The disappointment (again) was Berbatov. He was playing with a smile on his face against Wigan and it showed in his game. Today, he looked stroppy and lethargic and it must annoy players like Welbeck who was taken off for Valencia despite having a decent game and looking as likely as anyone to make the breakthrough to then sit back and watch Berbatov do next to nothing.

This was precisely the kind of situation that Berby was brought in for. To make that difference when things aren’t happening but his head drops more than anybody’s when things aren’t going for us.

Cantona would have scored (there, I’ve said it!)

Anyway, Leeds deserved their victory here today, they gave it everything and started to look a bit tired in the last twenty minutes but they hung on for the win.

For me, Fergie made two or three too many changes to the team and it backfired again.

The good news is the return of Evans (not so much Neville who looked as rusty as an old bike). The bad news is that Vidic was due to start this one but was pulled out at the last minute because of a slight problem (there is an air of mystery surrounding this… watch this space).

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