Manchester United vs Reading. The FA Cup Third Round.
Old Trafford.
Saturday 7 January 2017 12:27, UK
Jaap Stam returns to Old Trafford as Reading travel to Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday (kick-off 12.30pm).
Stam spent three seasons as a player at Manchester United from 1998 to 2001, during which he won the FA Cup, the Champions League and three Premier League titles.
He took charge of Reading at the start of this season and has led them to third place in the Sky Bet Championship.
"One of our strengths is the belief we have in ourselves and the possession football we play," Stam said. "We will have the same approach as we have for a league game - we're not going to do anything different in our preparation.
"And we believe in what we do and it's been working for us this season. It won't be easy against players of the quality they have. But we're going to give it a shot and we'll see at the end of the game how well it has gone."
Manchester United have won their last seven games in a row in all competitions and are unbeaten in 13 matches, their longest run since March 2013.
They lifted the FA Cup last season under Louis van Gaal after coming from behind to beat Crystal Palace in the final at Wembley.
Team news
Wayne Rooney will return to Manchester United's starting line-up after three games out with a thigh injury, needing one goal to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time scoring record of 249 at United.
Sergio Romero will start in goal instead of first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea, while Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay will not be considered while their futures remain unresolved.
Defender Eric Bailly is at the Africa Cup of Nations and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be rested, though Luke Shaw may feature and Bastian Schweinsteiger will be in the squad.
Reading will be without winger Callum Harriott after he suffered a hamstring injury in the abandoned game against Fulham last Friday.
Stephen Quinn and Anssi Jaakkola (both knee) are also out along with Deniss Rakels (ankle).
Opta stats
Manchester United have advanced from all but one of their last six third-round ties, falling only to Swansea in 2013/14.
Reading's last win over Manchester United in the FA Cup dates back to 1927, drawing two and losing six of their eight meetings since.
Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 24 FA Cup meetings with second-tier sides (W20 D4), last suffering defeat in 1981/82 against Watford.
Each of Reading's last two away defeats against top-tier opponents in the FA Cup have come in Manchester (0-1 against City in 2010/11 and 1-2 against United in 2012/13).
Juan Mata has scored in three consecutive FA Cup games for Manchester United, including in the final at Wembley last season (2-1 v Crystal Palace).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
Jaap Stam has turned Reading into a good football side. They had a brilliant comeback against Bristol City so they'll be full of confidence that they can defy the odds here.
The former United man clearly has an authority, which isn't guaranteed just because you were a top player, and they're a good passing team and will certainly give United a good game.
However, when Jose Mourinho's sides get going they're very tough to stop. He's firing shots at players and getting responses, as we saw with Anthony Martial being a man of the match against Middlesbrough and Marcus Rashford improving as well.
I think he will rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic and give a start to Wayne Rooney, who would love to win this competition in what I think will be his final season at Old Trafford.
Charlie predicts: 3-1 and Rashford to score first (25/1 with Sky Bet)
