Denis Irwin has backed United to get past Arsenal and
book a place in the FA Cup quarter finals.
The Reds were handed a tough fifth round draw at
home to the Gunners. But it could be a chance for United to exact
revenge for 2005’s FA Cup final defeat on penalties.
Irwin, a two-time FA Cup winner during 12 seasons at Old Trafford,
believes that, despite it being possibly the hardest available
draw, United have the quality to get past Arsene Wenger’s
side.
“It’s a one-off match, and what a huge cup tie it will be,” he told
MUTV.
“It’s a tough game because Arsenal are clearly a very good team.
They went through a little patch where their performances dipped.
But Emmanuel Adebayor has picked up the baton for them and they’ve
come out of that spell.
“But we’re in a rich vein of form ourselves,” he added. “If we can
play with our usual tempo and style I think we’ll go
through.”
It’s the 10th consecutive FA Cup tie in which United have faced
Premier League opposition, but Irwin says the real bonus is that
the Reds are at home.
“We’re at home, so that will hopefully work in our favour. We’ve
got to take advantage of that because the manager won’t want a
replay.”