FA Cup: Manchester United host Chelsea in headline billing

FA Cup: Manchester United host Chelsea in headline billing

Five Premier League teams in action in FA Cup quarter-finals

Chelsea's Didier Drogba scores the winner against Man United in the 2007 FA Cup final

There are two all-Premier-League ties in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-finals with Chelsea’s trip to Manchester United on Sunday the highlight of the fixtures.

Manchester United v Chelsea

Both sides are looking to bounce back from midweek defeats in Europe with Manchester United having been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Real Madrid after a 2-1 reverse at Old Trafford, and Chelsea losing 1-0 at Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Europa League, but with both having strong domestic form this promises to be an exciting affair.

"Rio’s been here for more than 10 years and never won it, so the manager is making sure we all want to win it, and we want to win it for ourselves as well"
Chris Smalling

Leading the Barclays Premier League standings by 12 points United can recover from the shock of Tuesday’s setback by boosting their hopes of winning a League and FA Cup double. United defender Chris Smalling, for one, is desperate to get his hands on the trophy his club last won nine years ago.
"The manager has stressed before the Cup games that it’s only Scholesey, Giggsy and Fletch in the squad who’ve won the FA Cup [and Robin van Persie, but that was for Arsenal],” Smalling told United’s website.
"Rio’s been here for more than 10 years and never won it, so the manager is making sure we all want to win it, and we want to win it for ourselves as well."
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side boast a good record at home against Chelsea, having beaten them on each of the last three occasions at Old Trafford. They also ran out 3-2 winners at Stamford Bridge in the League in late October. However, the Blues triumphed the last time the two sides met when they sealed a 5-4 Capital One Cup victory in West London and they also won their most recent FA Cup encounter – the 2007 final.
Wayne Rooney, Jonny Evans and Shinji Kagawa will hope to return to the side after missing out in midweek, but Ryan Giggs and Phil Jones will not play. For Chelsea, Ramires, who scored in both games against United this term, sat out the trip to Romania, while Juan Mata started on the bench. John Terry returned to captain the team and Demba Ba is available again after being cup-tied in Europe. --- Premier League