Man Utd vs Middlesbrough - FA Cup: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction
By Tom Gott
The FA Cup is back this weekend, and the fourth round will kick off with a meeting between Manchester United and Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.
United, who saw off Aston Villa in the third round, have won three of their last four games and come into this one having spent the past two weeks recovering during the international break.
They'll butt heads with a Boro side currently enjoying a run of six wins in their last seven. Chris Wilder's side are feeling good and enjoyed a solid transfer window which should set them up for a real run at promotion to the Premier League this season.
Here's everything you need to know about the game.
How to watch Man Utd vs Middlesbrough on TV/live stream
When is kick off? Friday 4 February, 20:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Old Trafford
TV channel/live stream? ITV (UK), ESPN+ (US)
Highlights? Emirates FA Cup YouTube Channel
Referee? Anthony Taylor
VAR? Stuart Attwell
Man Utd team news
United lost a lot of depth during the January transfer window. Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek and Amad Diallo all headed out on loan, leaving Ralf Rangnick without the ability to fully rotate his team. With a clash with Burnley on the agenda four days later, that's not ideal.
Paul Pogba is likely to miss out while he continues to recover from his hamstring injury, and the same can be said of Luke Shaw, but there could be returns for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has been dealing with an illness, and Jadon Sancho and Victor Lindelof, both of whom have been away from the team for personal reasons.
Eric Bailly and Hannibal are both back from AFCON, but Alex Telles, Fred and Edinson Cavani could all be rested after returning from South American international duty.
You can read Man Utd's predicted lineup for the game here.
Middlesbrough team news
New signing Riley McGree is not expected to make his debut in this one, having tested positive while away with Australia. However, both Aaron Connolly and Folarin Balogun are eligible to feature, given neither turned out for their parent clubs in this competition in the last round.
Marc Bola and Marcus Browne continue to work their way back to full fitness, and James Lea Siliki will also miss out because of AFCON duty.
Middlesbrough predicted XI: Lumley; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Howson, Crooks, Tavernier, Taylor; Sporar, Balogun
Man Utd vs Middlesbrough head-to-head record
The last time these two met in a cup competition, it was Boro who came out on top. They secured a penalty shoot-out victory in the 2015/16 League Cup fourth round against a United side which featured current face Jesse Lingard as well as the likes of Wayne Rooney, Memphis Depay and Marouane Fellaini.
That was the only time in the last six meetings between these two that didn't end in a United victory, the latest of which came towards the end of the 2016/17 campaign. Lingard bagged a worldie in that game.
For Boro's last win in regular time, you have to go all the way back to October 2005, 14 matches ago, when the Teesiders secured a stunning 4-1 win.
Man Utd vs Middlesbrough score prediction
History is in United's favour, and it's be a major surprise if they didn't secure the victory here as well.
Rangnick's side haven't been particularly entertaining recently but have been grinding out ugly victories, and they'll hope to step it up a level or two after a much-needed break.
Boro definitely have enough about them to make a game out of this, particularly if United still aren't firing on all cylinders, but they'll likely come up short.
Prediction: Man Utd 2-0 Middlesbrough
