On Thursday night, League One side Tranmere pulled off an upset at Prenton Park. They dumped Premier League side Watford out in a third-round replay. It was a 2-1 win after extra-time that Rovers secured.
Granted Watford sent out only a second-string side, but after Tranmere had been 3-0 down at Vicarage Road in the initial meeting, it was remarkable that a replay was needed at all.
Tranmere v Man Utd Odds*
Man Utd 1/3
Draw 17/4
Tranmere 8/1
* (betting odds taken from Betfred on January 24th, 2020 at 1:52 pm)
Can the battling Rovers beat Man Utd?
So now the prize that Tranmere gets for winning that replay is a home game against Manchester United in the fourth round on Sunday. Rovers are heavy underdogs for the game at 17/2 that is because they are looking at the threat of relegation from League One. They are currently third from bottom.
So they are not in great shape there. The last time that the Merseysiders met a Premier League club was just last January in the third round of the FA Cup. It is a game that they will want to quickly forget as they were beaten heavily 7-0 on home turf by Tottenham. It would be some upset if they knocked out the Red Devils.
Will the pitch be a big leveller?
Obviously, there is a massive gulf between the two clubs in the league tiers. However, much has been made of the pitch conditions at Prenton Park. There’s as much sand and mud as is there is grass and that is not something that Manchester United are going to be used to.
With the Red Devils as well not being at full strength because of injuries and having lost their last two games, this is a nervy, tough away tie in the FA Cup for them. How much will the conditions in Birkenhead play their part?
FA Cup Outright Winner Odds*
Man City 2/1
Liverpool 9/2
Spurs 9/1
Chelsea 9/1
Leicester 10/1
Arsenal 11/1
Man Utd 11/1
West Ham 28/1
Sheffield United 40/1
Newcastle 40/1
50/1 bar
* (betting odds taken from Betfred on January 24th, 2020 at 1:52 pm)
Tranmere’s FA Cup form
Tranmere’s best-ever finishes in the FA Cup throughout their history have been quarter-final places in 2000, 2001 and 2004. They have not had a great time of things in recent seasons at Prenton Park in the FA Cup. They have won their last two there (both this season against Chichester and then Watford) but they were on a seven-match winless streak of home form in the FA Cup before that.
But if you tally up their home and away combined form in the tournament, then they are W6 D3 L1 in their last ten played. They are facing a Manchester United side who are only W2 D1 L4 in all matches across all competitions since the turn of the new year.
Given their situation, where boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the favourite to be the Next EPL Manager To Go, anything less than a win at Prenton Park could spell the end of his reign. A win and United would be a step closer to challenging for silverware in what has been a difficult season. There were certainly worse draws that they could have gotten.
Betfred In-Play Double Delight/Hattrick Heaven
Place an in-play single bet on the next goalscorer market in the Tranmere v Man Utd game. Wait for your player to score and if they score a second you’ll get paid out at double the odds. If they score a third, have your first goalscorer bet paid out at treble the odds in cash!
Qualifying games this weekend are:
Saturday 25th January
Melbourne City v Perth Glory (08:30)
Brentford v Leicester (12:45)
Burnley v Norwich (15:00)
Southampton v Tottenham (15:00)
Fiorentina v Genoa (17:00)
Hull v Chelsea (17:30)
Bayern Munich v Schalke (17:30)
Sevilla v Granada (20:00)
Sunday 26th January
St Mirren v Aberdeen (12:30)
Man City v Fulham (13:00)
Tranmere v Man Utd (15:00)
Hearts v Rangers (15:00)
Shrewsbury v Liverpool (17:00)
Roma v Lazio (17:00)
Napoli v Juventus (19:45)
Real Valladolid v Real Madrid (20:00)
Monday 27th January
Bournemouth v Arsenal (20:00)
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