Manchester United will look to keep their season going on four fronts as they welcome Championship Reading to Old Trafford in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
United – who beat Everton 3-1 in the third round – were dumped out by another second tier side, Middlesbrough, at this stage last season, marking their earliest exit since 2014. Twelve-time FA Cup winners, they've lost to Reading just once in their history – in a third-round replay in this competition some 96 years ago.
Reading must have been dreading this tie being pulled out of the hat: they made the very same trip in the third round in 2017 – losing 4-0 – and 2019 – losing 2-0 – as well as well as the fifth round in 2013 – when they lost 2-1. The Royals are currently managed by United legend Paul Ince.
Erik ten Hag has made just one change from the team which beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Harry Maguire returns in defence, while Wout Weghorst keeps his place in attack.
Reading, meanwhile, are without injured defenders Sam Hutchinson, Liam Moore, Naby Sarr and Dejan Tetek. Midfielder Ovie Ejaria is not involved after reportedly being told he can leave the club this month.
Manchester United XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia; Eriksen, Casemiro; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Weghorst.
United returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night; the Premier League's third-placed side have won 10 of their last 12 games in league and cup, with the sole defeat coming in last Sunday's dramatic encounter with Arsenal.
As for Reading – who sit 16th in the Championship – they head to Old Trafford off the back of a 4-0 thumping by Stoke City last time out and having won only one of their last five in all competitions (2-0 against Watford in the previous round of the FA Cup).
Referee
Darren England will be the referee for Manchester United vs Reading
Stadium
Manchester United vs Reading will be played at 74,310-capacity Old Trafford in Manchester.
Kick-off and channel
Manchester United vs Reading kick-off is at 8pm GMT on Saturday 28 January in the UK. The game is being shown on the ITV4 and ITVX (STV and STV Player in Scotland).
In the US, kick-off time is 3pm ET / 1pm PT. The match will be shown onESPN+ in the US. See below for international broadcast options.
VPN guide
Use a VPN to watch FA Cup football from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for an FA Cup tie, then you won't be able to watch on your domestic streaming service as usual. The broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!) and blocks you from watching it. You can use a VPN to get around that, though, without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and will let you watch. And all the info going between is entirely encrypted, anonymous and safe – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there.For the FA Cup, FourFourTwo currently recommends:
ExpressVPN including a 30-day, money-back guarantee FourFourTwo’s brainy office mates TechRadar love its super speedy connections, trustworthy security and the fact it works with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS5 and loads more. You also get a money-back guarantee, 24/7 support and it's currently available for a knockdown price. Go get it!
(Image credit: Future)
International FA Cup TV rights
• UK: In the UK, FA Cup rights are shared between the two main terrestrial broadcasters, the BBC and ITV.
• USA:ESPN+ is the home of the FA Cup in the States.
• Canada: In Canada, Sportsnet NOW is the place to catch the FA Cup action.
• Australia: Paramount+ is where you can watch FA Cup matches in Australia.
• New Zealand: In New Zealand, Sky Sport have the rights to the FA Cup.
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Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
