Preston vs. Manchester United: Team News, Preview, Live Stream and TV Info
Louis van Gaal's Manchester United travel to Deepdale to take on Simon Grayson's Preston North End in the fifth round of the FA Cup—with the Lilywhites hoping to pull off a spectacular upset.
Of course, given United's struggles on the road, both in the league and the FA Cup, it may not be that great a surprise if the Red Devils have a hard time against Preston. There is a vast gap between the two sides' league positions, with United third in the Premier League and Preston fourth in League One, but Van Gaal's men needed a replay to see off League Two Cambridge United.
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Preston have finally rediscovered some form, winning three on the bounce after having failed to win between 3 January and 3 February. United, of course, have been heavily criticised for the nature of their recent performances, but they have been beaten only once in the past 18 games.
The FA Cup must seem an attainable goal for Van Gaal, particularly with the departure of Chelsea and Manchester City from the competition. All the pressure is on United as they are obviously heavy favourites.
However, Preston should have plenty of belief going into this one, especially if they have been paying attention to United's struggles on the road.
Date: Monday 16 February 2015
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. EST
Venue: Deepdale, Preston
TV Info: BBC One and BBC One HD (UK Only) / Fox Sports 1 USA (US Only)
Live Stream: BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport (UK Only) / Fox Sports Go (US Only)
Form Lines
Preston North End: DLWWW
Manchester United: DWWDW
Predicted Sides
Preston North End: Thorsten Stuckmann; Paul Huntington, Tom Clarke, Bailey Wright, Scott Wiseman; Paul Gallagher, John Welsh, Daniel Johnson, Neil Kilkenny; Joe Garner, Kevin Davies (4-4-2 / 4-2-3-1).
Manchester United: David De Gea; Paddy McNair, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw; Ander Herrera, Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria, Adnan Januzaj; James Wilson, Radamel Falcao (4-4-2 Diamond).
Players to Watch
Joe Garner is the man to watch for the Lilywhites. The striker is a cult hero at Deepdale, and deservedly so. He is joint third in the League One scoring charts, having scored 13 times in the league, in spite of a significant injury lay off in December and January.
He made his way back into the starting lineup against Chesterfield on Tuesday evening and scored twice.
For United, Angel Di Maria showed more impressive form against Burnley on Wednesday than he has done recently. If selected, and if he is on his game, he should have too much for Preston.
Key Battle
Paul Gallagher, on long-term loan from Leicester City is a significant physical presence in the centre of Preston's midfield, and his battle with whomever occupies that position for United (presumably Rooney or Herrera) could be key. United's recent troubles have owed much to their inability to control the midfield, and Preston do have the personnel to take advantage of that weakness.
And speaking of physical presence, Kevin Davies will be keen to take the physical battle to United's defenders. Expect him to target Jonny Evans if Evans is selected.
Odds
The odds for the game, at the time of writing, per Odds Shark are:
Preston Win: +650
Draw: +350
Manchester United Win: -200
In spite of justifiable concerns about United's performances on the road they should, of course, have too much attacking quality for Preston to cope with. However, what United should have on paper, and what has actually been on display in recent weeks has rarely matched up. There is no place for any complacency among United's ranks, as Preston will, as the cliche goes, be well up for this one.
With thanks to Hanna Jones for Preston North End insight. Follow Hanna on Twitter @HannaMayJ for more.
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