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.”