There has been little sign of improvement since Solskjær took over and he looks ill-equipped to turn things around

O n Friday 5 March 1909, Manchester United went to Burnley for an FA Cup quarter-final. The pitch was frozen, there was heavy snow and with 18 minutes remaining the referee, Herbert Bamlett, decided the match couldn’t go on. For United, the abandonment was fortunate: they had been 1-0 down but won the rearranged game 3-2 and went on, for the first time, to lift the FA Cup.

Bamlett, having refereed the 1914 FA Cup final, turned his hand to management, taking charge of Oldham, Wigan Borough and Middlesbrough, guiding the latter to the verge of promotion when, in April 1927, he was named manager of United.

Related: Manchester United make Harry Maguire new full-time captain

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• Club will end interest in midfielder unless Sporting lower price
• United believe 25-year-old is worth closer to £45m plus add-ons

Manchester United have baulked at Sporting Lisbon’s £68m valuation of Bruno Fernandes, with their valuation of the midfielder closer to £45m plus add-ons. United will end their interest in the 25-year-old unless the Portuguese club move far closer to the fee United believe is realistic.

In the summer Tottenham Hotspur made a take-it-or-leave-it offer of £45m for Fernandes and Ole Gunnar Solskjær, the manager, and executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, view this as the baseline fee for him.

Related: Young's Manchester United captaincy goes to Maguire after Inter move

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Football fans are naturally superstitious but funny things can happen when your team is on a long unbeaten run. Arsenal supporters will remember the “this is the day we are going to lose” mentality in the latter stages of the record 49-game streak in 2003-04. It could be a tricky looking away game, or perhaps an early kick-off, but usually it would just be against a bitter rival who you knew would enjoy ending your run more than anybody else. So it is entirely natural that Liverpool – unbeaten this season, unbeaten in 38 league matches and unbeaten in the league at Anfield since April 2017 – seem to be entertaining the fact they will lose to Manchester United on Sunday. True, United are the only team to take a point off Jürgen Klopp’s side this season courtesy of October’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford but their inconsistent away form has seen them lose at Watford and Arsenal of late and there is little to suggest they can silence Anfield. Apart from the fact that this is football, of course. Paul Chronnell

Sunday 4.30pm Sky Sports Premier League

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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær said the club wasn't ready to offer captain Ashely Young a two-year contract, explaining why the time was right for the former England international to leave. Solksjær said Young had been a 'good servant for the club', as he turns 35 this summer and moves on to Inter, where he's signed an 18-month contract. 

Young is the third United player to join Inter in the past six months, with Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sánchez also teaming up with Conte in Milan. The Manchester United manager then confirmed Harry Maguire as the club's new full-time captain, six months after his £80m move from Leicester, saying he'd been impressed by his strong leadership skills. 

• Inter agree £1.3m fee with Manchester United for full-back Ashley Young

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• Ashley Young due to complete move to Inter
• Marcus Rashford unlikely to be fit for Liverpool game

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has confirmed Harry Maguire as Manchester United’s new full-time captain, six months after his £80m move from Leicester.

Maguire will take the armband from Ashley Young, who is expected to complete his move to Inter, pending a medical on Friday.

Related: Inter agree £1.3m fee with Manchester United for full-back Ashley Young

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Two cerebral coaches meet at the Emirates, shaky Spurs head to Vicarage Road and can United really end Liverpool’s unbeaten season?

Gedson Fernandes started only three league games in 2019 – and was substituted at half-time in one of those – and though he is richly talented there is no guarantee he will enjoy more success at Spurs than his largely underwhelming compatriots Ricardo Rocha, Pedro Mendes (he of the disallowed goal from the halfway line at Old Trafford), Helder Postiga and José Dominguez, the entertaining if only occasionally effective winger who was a light in the darkness of the Gerry Francis-Christian Gross era. Fernandes’ fitness levels are unknown but there are easier debuts than against an in-form Watford side that have discovered their collective mettle. The former Tottenham midfielder Étienne Capoue is providing many of the qualities José Mourinho could use from the base of midfield. In their next four league games, Spurs play three of the current bottom four in Watford, Norwich and Aston Villa, an excellent opportunity to address the rocky form that has meant they won one and lost three of their last five league matches. But on current form, and with Harry Kane injured, there seems little to choose between these sides. SB

Watford v Tottenham, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Related: Ismaïla Sarr aims to follow path of his Senegal ‘big brother’ Sadio Mané | Ed Aarons

Arsenal v Sheffield United, Saturday 3pm

Liverpool v Manchester United, Sunday 4.30pm

Manchester City v Crystal Palace, Saturday 3pm

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Norwich v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

Newcastle v Chelsea, Saturday 5.30pm

Southampton v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Related: Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 top scorers 2019-20

Brighton v Aston Villa, Saturday 3pm

West Ham v Everton, Saturday 3pm

Burnley v Leicester City, Sunday 2pm

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• Full-back to undergo medical in Milan on Friday
• England international set for 18-month contract

Internazionale have agreed a €1.5m (£1.3m) fee with Manchester United for the full-back and club captain Ashley Young.

The 34-year-old will undergo a medical in Italy on Friday before signing an 18-month contract with Antonio Conte’s side. Young is set to leave Old Trafford after almost nine years at the club, having joined from Aston Villa in 2011.

Related: Transfer window January 2020 – every deal from Europe's top five leagues

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• Forward injures back in FA Cup replay win over Wolves
• Ole Gunnar Solskjær admits substitution ‘backfired’

Marcus Rashford is a doubt for Manchester United’s visit to Liverpool on Sunday after Ole Gunnar Solskjær admitted the striker’s introduction as a substitute in the FA Cup replay win over Wolves “backfired”.

The manager brought United’s top scorer on midway through the second half at Old Trafford but he had to be taken off after only 15 minutes. Matt Doherty appeared to knock Rashford, who will have tests to determine his availability for the match against the league leaders at Anfield.

Never want to feel like I’ve let my teammates, the club and most importantly the fans down so did my very best to carry on tonight and was gutted to come off.

Top work from the lads to get into the next round pic.twitter.com/ZLpxiqhtq3

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Manchester United will travel to Liverpool on Sunday in high spirits after this elimination of Wolves. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side next meet Tranmere Rovers or Watford in the fourth round and can take on their fiercest rival boosted by a second win of the week.

Before a below capacity crowd of 67,075 the contest dipped following the break but of more concern for United is how Marcus Rashford, on as a 64th-minute replacement, lasted only 15 minutes before being hurt, having to be replaced himself by Jesse Lingard.

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• Live updates on the third-round replay at Old Trafford
• Scoreboard: follow the rest of tonight’s matches
• United cancel Middle East winter break over safety fears
• Email Scott with any thoughts

5.32pm GMT

Wolves last won the FA Cup in 1960. Here’s their legendary captain Bill Slater hoisting the famous old pot at the famous old Wembley, moments after Stan Cullis’s side saw off Blackburn Rovers 3-0.

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• Squad were looking to spend February break in Qatar
• They have 15 days off after Wolves game on 1 February

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has revealed that fears over safety in the Middle East mean Manchester United have changed their plans to spend the winter break there.

The intention had been to take the team to the region, with Qatar’s Aspire Academy a potential destination, for a pause in the season that begins after Wolves’ visit to Old Trafford on 1 February and ends with the trip to Chelsea 16 days later.

Related: Solskjær warns Mason Greenwood will put Manchester United before England

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• Solskjær: ‘Let the boy settle in before we talk about England’
• Euros concern for national team with Kane hamstring injury

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has advised caution regarding Mason Greenwood potentially receiving an England call-up, the manager believing the 18-year-old has to focus on performing for Manchester United.

Greenwood has impressed in his first full season, the forward scoring nine times in 26 appearances while also proving a creative force. Harry Kane’s hamstring injury has placed in jeopardy the availability of England’s first-choice No 9 for the summer’s European Championship.

Related: Manchester United ready to firm up interest in Sporting’s Bruno Fernandes

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• United prepared to offer £60m for Portugal midfielder
• Fernandes earmarked as main January transfer target

Manchester United are ready to firm up their interest in Bruno Fernandes, with the Sporting Lisbon midfielder keen on a move priced at around €70m (£60m).

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has identified the 25-year-old as an option to strengthen a position depleted by the departures of Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini plus the long-term injury to Scott McTominay.

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Bournemouth need to find goals fast, Aubameyang’s red card has caused a headache at Arsenal and Ings is in England form

• The Dozen: our pick of the weekend’s best images

Bournemouth’s defending left a lot to be desired as they crumbled against Watford but their failure to penetrate Nigel Pearson’s improving side was equally alarming. No team has scored fewer goals in the Premier League this season and those front–foot displays of yesteryear – they scored almost 100 goals en route to promotion in 2015 and more than any team outside the top six last season – feel a distant memory following a ninth defeat in 11 league matches. “Historically we have always been free-scoring and we have always had goals in us,” their manager, Eddie Howe, said. “We have always had the ability – even if we have conceded first – to come back and win games. That is probably where the feeling has gone missing, the creativity and that feeling we are going to score. We have to do better in that respect.” Ben Fisher

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Hero tatts and upside down play in this week’s roundup of the best top-flight pictures

• View the Dozen archive

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Ole Gunnar Solskjær has said Marcus Rashford will only improve after his striker marked his 200th appearance for Manchester United with two goals against Norwich.

“He’s got everything to be a top class player,” Solskjær said. Adding: “You know them goals he scored today from inside the six yard box? More of them and then he’ll be exceptional”

• Manchester United thump Norwich as Marcus Rashford celebrates in style

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Marcus Rashford decorated his 200th Manchester United appearance with a two-goal display of menace that ensured victory over a hapless Norwich. The forward was taken off just before the hour and headed for the changing room so Ole Gunnar Solskjær will hope the player who has become United’s fulcrum is not seriously injured.

His finishes took Rashford to 19 for the season and sent his side on the way to a first league win of 2020. In this season of boom and bust for United the three points will quieten the noise around Solskjær and side but for how long who knows.

Related: Chelsea v Burnley, Manchester United v Norwich and more – live!

Related: Tottenham v Liverpool: Premier League – live!

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League One pair have cause for excitement this week but the rewards may be slim – so why not ditch replays until the semis?

The FA Cup, once the competition that brought all of English football together, has become incredibly divisive. As the third‑round replays get under way this coming week, it will be hard not to notice that Wolves did not actually want an extra game at Old Trafford. It will be their 38th of an already long season, it will still be only mid-January, and Nuno Espírito Santo would have been perfectly happy for the matter to have been settled on penalties at Molineux.

Traditionalists keen to hang on to the magic of the Cup will have been more encouraged by Tranmere’s performance at Watford. Not only the three-goal second‑half fightback that earned them a draw, but the eagerness with which Micky Mellon embraced Tuesday’s Prenton Park replay. “It’s the sort of distraction our bank manager enjoys,” the Rovers manager said. “I’d like 10 replays.”

Related: The joy of the FA Cup: Osaze Urhoghide provides antidote to critics | Paul MacInnes

Yes, replays can be a financial lifeline to smaller clubs, but the FA Cup will never make a comeback as a charity

Related: St Andrew’s empty stands a sign of FA Cup’s fading, but not forgotten, magic | Jonathan Liew

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Batter your way through every executive vice-chairman the club can hire and you still come up against disengaged vulture capitalists

It’s the question on every Manchester United supporter’s mind right now. Is there any sales tactic, any favour to be called in that may persuade Internazionale to sign Ed Woodward?

This is perhaps a bridge too far. But as the transfer window thrums into gear it’s hard to avoid the feeling January has become the most Manchester United time of the year. Not for the actual signings, because there haven’t been many of those beyond the odd goalkeeper and the one-man reactor core meltdown that is Alexis Sánchez.

Related: Manchester United ‘warrior’ Harry Maguire may be fit for Saturday

Getting rid of Woodward wouldn’t solve all the problems but it would solve one: they wouldn’t have him around any more

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Manchester United’s season-long groundhog day of struggle has entered the period where a rebound from a loss – Tuesday’s near-surrender to Manchester City – with a win is again required. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side beat Norwich 3-1 in October’s reverse fixture yet should they lose – as they might – to the bottom team expect another inquiry into where United are heading. Jamie Jackson

Saturday 3pm

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