DEVILISH DRAW
FA Cup quarter-final draw simulated with Man Utd handed nightmare tie – if they can even get past Nottingham Forest
Erik ten Hag hit back after coming under fire from a high-profile pundit this week
MANCHESTER UNITED have been handed a nightmare FA Cup quarter-final tie in SunSport's simulated draw.
The Red Devils still have to book their place in the last eight by beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground tonight.
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Victory is certainly not a given, with Man Utd having lost 2-1 to Nuno Espirito Santo's side in the Premier League in December.
Erik ten Hag will be desperate for his side to return to winning ways, after their abject 2-1 home defeat to Fulham last Saturday.
Should United manage to beat Forest, SunSport's simulated draw has landed them with a horrifying trip to Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola's side serenely booked their place in the quarters with a 6-2 win at Luton last night.
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City host United in the Premier League this Sunday, and our draw has seen them land each other again.
Following the Red Devils' defeat to Fulham, pundit Jamie Carragher pointed out a baffling tactical trend.
He said: "Twenty seconds into the game against Fulham, it's been the problem for Manchester United all season, there's space between the back four and the midfield.
"We go to the reason why they're poor defensively and can't cope with counter-attacks, they've got no pace at the back and a lack of legs in midfield.
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"People say: 'there's no patterns of play at Manchester United, how do they play and what's the philosophy?'."
Ten Hag then hit back: "First of all, some analysts are very objective in their comments, very good advice, some are very subjective.
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"Jamie Carragher from the first moment on has criticised and now he wants to make his point.”
He then added: "Probably in the first half an hour, yeah, he had a point.
"The way Fulham set up their midfield was a surprise and then we have to find the solutions.
"After half an hour we found the solutions."
Elsewhere last night, Newcastle squeezed past Blackburn on penalties.
Their reward, according to our simulated draw, would be a home tie with Coventry - who beat sixth-tier Maidstone United 5-0 on Monday night.
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Southampton face Carabao Cup winners Liverpool at Anfield tonight, with the winner to host Leicester in our simulation, with the Foxes having won 1-0 at Bournemouth after extra time.
Meanwhile, we've got the winners of Brighton vs Wolves to welcome the victors of Chelsea vs Leeds.
Simulated quarter-final draw in full
Newcastle vs Coventry
Man City vs Forest/Man Utd
Southampton/Liverpool vs Leicester
Brighton/Wolves vs Chelsea/Leeds
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