FA Cup

Manchester United draw Liverpool in FA Cup fourth round

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  • Post published:January 12, 2021

Manchester United will host Premier League champions Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round.

Monday night’s draw pitched 12-time winners United into battle with Jurgen Klopp’s men, who beat a coronavirus-hit Aston Villa side to book their place.

National League North side Chorley’s reward for their victory over a depleted Derby was a home tie with Premier League Wolves.

League Two Crawley, who dumped top-flight Leeds out of the competition in the third round, face a trip to Sky Bet Championship promotion hopefuls Bournemouth.

Fourth-tier counterparts Cheltenham, however, were rewarded for their win over Mansfield with a home tie against Premier League giants Manchester City.

Tottenham, 5-0 third-round winners at Marine of the Northern Premier League North West Division, are on the road again, with Championship strugglers Wycombe this time providing the opposition.

Chairboys boss Gareth Ainsworth is relishing the clash, having been in charge when Wycombe pushed them all the way at White Hart Lane in 2017.

Two goals from Paul Hayes had put them 2-0 up but Spurs got back on level terms and then, after Garry Thompson had made it 3-2 to the visitors, last-gasp goals from Dele Alli and Son Heung-min snatched a 4-3 victory for the hosts.

Ainsworth told the club’s Twitter account: ‘My phone hasn’t stopped. It’s great. What a fantastic tie for a club like Wycombe Wanderers.

‘I’m so proud and so honoured to have led them again into round four for the third time in our history and ironically we get the same team that we got last time.

‘It’s going to be awesome. Jose Mourinho is obviously a huge manager and what a manager, what a guy. It will be an honour to manage against him and hopefully coming to Wycombe it will be a bit tougher than it would be for them at home.

‘We think it will pick the lads up. We think everyone’s going to be on it to play in that game and get themselves in the team for that game, which is great.’

Should Chorley pull off a shock against Wolves, they could have another big date ahead of them after the fifth round draw pitched the winners in battle with either Southampton, Shrewsbury or 14-time winners Arsenal.

The victors in the Manchester United vs Liverpool showdown will face Stockport, West Ham or Doncaster, while either Wycombe or Tottenham will travel to the winners of the Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday tie.

Reacting to the draw, Chorley manager Jamie Vermiglio told BBC Sport: ‘That’s what we really wanted, Premier League opposition, great.

‘And there’s a bit of history because in 1986, Chorley played against Wolves at home and beat them 3-0, so we just need to do that again.’

There was little time for Vermiglio and his players to dream about what might lie ahead, with Tuesday night’s league clash with Leamington the immediate priority.

The manager added: “Tomorrow, we’ve got a game, for a start. The lads have trained today to try to get some of that lactic acid out of the system. We’ll prepare for Leamington and then we’ve got a few other games, and then we’ve got to prepare for that.

‘It’s just tough, though, to keep them focused on the league, which is our priority. Nevertheless, they’re going to start thinking about Wolves and dreaming big, I’m sure.’