Manchester United’s season - and possibly Erik ten Hag’s future - is on the line at Wembley on Sunday when the mighty Red Devils take on Coventry City in the second FA Cup semi finals.
It’s Premier League versus Championship, with United slim odds to see off their opponents from a division below and book a return trip to Wembley for May’s final.
But anyone who has seen United of late and the pressure they are under knows this fixture could be trickier than the odds imply.
- Man United & Over 3.5 Goals
- Bruno Fernandes Any Time Scorer
- Over 4.5 Coventry Corners
United Expected To Progress
It’s all doom and gloom around Old Trafford at the moment, with United in crushingly average form.
Under-fire boss Ten Hag seems to be treading water, simply holding the fort for whoever new owner Jim Ratcliffe wants to install as the club’s next manager.
But FA Cup glory could buy the Dutchman a reprieve, and they couldn’t have handpicked a better opponent than Coventry for this stage of the competition.
That’s not to denigrate Coventry - they are a decent Championship side who showed real bottle, coming from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at Wolves in the previous round. But in the last four, United could have expected a top-half Premier League side, and they haven’t got one.
This is an opportunity for the 12-time FA Cup winners to show their mettle on the big stage. They are scoring goals for fun and can continue that against a Coventry side who haven’t kept a clean sheet in seven.
United also concede too many - 12 goals in the last five matches - and are missing key defenders. The much-maligned Harry Maguire has been passed fit, but they are still vulnerable to a City line led by the in-form Ellis Simms.
United should have the pedigree to deliver - but expect them to do so in a flood of goals.
MANCHESTER UNITED & OVER 3.5 GOALS
Bruno Can Lead From The Front
At Bournemouth last week, when United needed a saviour, Bruno Fernandes delivered with both his side’s goals in a 2-2 draw.
The Portuguese playmaker has been accused of going missing too often this season, but the fact is he has scored five goals in his last five United matches suggests he could be rediscovering his consistent best.
He is influential, supremely confident and ought to be able to take centre stage against a Championship side. Bet him to score at any time.
BRUNO FERNANDES TO SCORE AT ANY TIME
Coventry Corner Count To Climb
Mark Robins, the Coventry manager who won the FA Cup as a player with Manchester United 34 years ago, is rightly winning plaudits galore for his work with the Sky Blues.
On all the evidence of their season in the Championship - they are eighth - they can give United a decent test.
What they can also do is chalk up corners, far many more than the 4.5 they are tipped to win.
This United defence is rocky and, almost incredibly, in their last 10 Premier League matches since early February, they have given up an extraordinary 102 corners.
And these aren’t games against the big boys. They gave up eight against Luton and Everton, nine against Fulham, 14 at Brentford and seven last week at Bournemouth.
