Derby v Manchester United: FA Cup fifth-round preview, odds, prediction & tip

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Derby v Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round.

When to watch

BT Sport 1, 7.45pm Thursday

Best bet

Manchester United & under 3.5 goals
1pt 7-5 Betway, Coral
Back this tip with Coral

Team news

Derby
Tom Huddlestone is back in training but won’t be involved.

Manchester United
Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford remain sidelined while Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are unlikely to be involved. Axel Tuanzebe is fit.

Preview

Wayne Rooney’s eagerly-awaited reunion with the club he served with such distinction for over a decade is the tie of the fifth round of the FA Cup, but a fairytale outcome might not be on the cards.

Derby fans and plenty of neutrals would love to see the old warhorse topple Manchester United, where he spent 13 largely wonderful seasons, and book the Rams their first quarter-final berth since 1999.

The 34-year-old has proved a fantastic addition to the Derby squad, adding a touch of class that definitely wasn’t there before he flew in from the States at the turn of the year.

And a few weeks ago Derby could have had a chance of pulling off a famous victory.

But this tie comes at a time when Derby are stuttering while United are going from strength to strength, and the visitors and 12-time winners should be heading for the last eight.

The bookmakers see it that way, although odds of 8-15 look short enough. United get the vote but there’s nothing to suggest it will be a walkover so backing the visitors and under 3.5 goals at 7-5 looks worth taking.

Derby boss Phillip Cocu will surely throw everything at this.

His side are eight points off the playoffs and while there's talk around the dressing room of a top-six push, that looks fanciful.

There are too many good teams who need to falter for them to have a sniff and the Rams aren’t playing consistently enough to profit from the misfortunes of others. They were four games without a win prior to Saturday’s 3-1 triumph at an out-of-form Sheffield Wednesday.

The FA Cup should mean everything to Cocu so the Dutchman can be expected to send out his best side, and when they are good they can be very good.

Rooney is the heartbeat, although Tom Lawrence and Martyn Waghorn are playing better than ever and no-nonsense Chris Martin has nailed down the target-man role.

They were excellent against Fulham last month but a few days earlier against Huddersfield they were anything but. Like so many teams in the Sky Bet Championship they really are hard to call.

Derby do boast the joint best home defensive record in the in the second tier – 13 goals conceded in 18 matches - and they have lost only three of their last 27 at Pride Park.

But this is a test far stiffer than anything they would normally face and United are in decent form.

Players much maligned – the likes of Luke Shaw, Fred, Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly, even Harry Maguire – are finally clicking.

Not all of those will start but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a squad deep and capable enough to be able to sustain the three fronts of FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League qualification.

They are unbeaten in eight, fifth in the Premier League and arguably secured the best signing of the January window judging by the impact of Bruno Fernandes.