The story of Sunday's FA Cup fixtures will undoubtedly be dominated by Liverpool's trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United where all eyes will be on recently appointed caretaker manager Kenny Dalglish. After the sacking of Roy Hodgson on Saturday, the question that's on everyone's lips reads something like this: can King Kenny inject the new manager spark into his recently acquired project and lead an underachieving Liverpool side to victory over their fiercest rivals?
FA Cup Third Round Sunday: Manchester United Vs. Liverpool, Three Other Top Premier League Clubs See Action
Odd still though that football fans continue to ask themselves these kinds of questions especially when we're talking about such a historically great club. Any other time the league leaders were facing a side four points off the drop and in 12th spot, supporters and neutrals both would approach this game with the same gusto they would if United faced a Bolton or Sunderland of years past.
A glaring actuality though is that we’re talking about the FA Cup, not the Premier League, which allows both sides, whether they want to or not, the ability to throw out their league standing for one day and focus solely on matters pertaining to the pitch. The tie itself has drama written all over it which is why we’ll have live coverage of Manchester United Vs. Liverpool here at SB Nation Soccer.
Stealing a plot line from Star Wars, Manchester City's trip to Leicester City has an air to it strangely reminiscent of the line "when I left you I was but the learning, now I am the master". If you don't geek out to Star Wars like we did, Roberto Mancini once played under and managed under current Leicester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, who once managed Manchester City. While the Citizens should be heavily favored against a side 29 places below them, again, we're talking about Cup football here which makes anything possible, just ask Newcastle.
Two London-based Premier League clubs round out the day's four matches. Tottenham Hotspur host Charlton Athletic in an all London affair and Chelsea host Championship side Ipswich Town. Like Liverpool, Ipswich are a side who've also recently disposed of their current manager (Roy Keane) and face tough FA Cup opposition with a caretaker (Ian McParland). Although in keeping in mind Chelsea's current run of form and turmoil surrounding the club, a potential upset, a giant killing and a Chelsea defeat in this match isn't an impossible outcome.
See More:
