Football betting: FA Cup - Man Utd vs Arsenal

There's no doubt about the tie of the tournament this Saturday as Manchester United host Arsenal in the fifth round of the FA Cup (live on BBC1, 5.15pm) with United expected to lower the colours of their fierce title rivals.

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Sir Alex Ferguson's side are still nursing their wounds after losing to Manchester City for the second time this season last Sunday. On a day of commemoration of the Munich air crash, United were hoping to give a winning tribute against their city rivals, but Sven-Goran Eriksson's men hadn't read the script and were worthy winners at Old Trafford.

Suddenly, from being title shoo-ins, United are no longer favourites to retain their trophy as that honour has been passed to the Gunners, who overcame Blackburn to move five points clear at the Premier League summit on Monday, and are in from 4/5 to 4/6 to wrestle the championship from United's grasp. These unforeseen developments will not have gone down too well with Sir Alex, who would have expected the blips to come from Arsene Wenger's young guns rather than his title holders.

So this FA Cup tie takes on extra importance for United, who will be determined not to suffer further humiliation in front of watching millions. If there was any temptation to rest players ahead of their Champions League match with Lyon on Wednesday, that will surely now be resisted by Ferguson, who knows well that a morale-boosting win over Arsenal will be as good as a rest.

The visitors, meanwhile, might well take a different view. The title is effectively theirs to be lost and Wenger, having lost a number of players to injuries of late, will not want to risk losing any more numbers for the visit of AC Milan on Wednesday. Wenger has won the FA Cup four times, and although a win at Old Trafford is always sweet, the examination by the European champions is of much greater priority for a side that have never won the Champions League.

Arsenal were badly beaten by Tottenham when they rested key personnel for the second leg of the Carling Cup and there is a risk that they will come unstuck again at Old Trafford, where Wayne Rooney returns from suspension. The pressure is really all on United, who have played poorly in their last two matches, but with Arsenal's eye on an altogether different prize a home win is the only call to make.

Verdict: 2pts Manchester Utd to bt Arsenal @ 21/20 (Paddy Power)

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