Manchester United take on Barnsley in the third round of the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
The Red Devils won the competition in 2023, beating Newcastle United 2-0 in the final, but were dumped out in just the fourth round last year, losing 0-3 to the same opponents.
United have not played Barnsley since beating them 2-0 at Oakwell in the same competition back in 2009, when Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen got on the scoresheet.
The Yorkshire side had got on better in the previous encounter at Old Trafford however, as they pulled off a surprise 1-1 draw in the FA Cup in February 1998 and won the replay 3-2 to knock out Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
United have already taken on the League One side this season as the U21s pulled off a dramatic comeback to defeat the Tykes 3-2 in the EFL trophy, with Jack Fletcher scoring two outstanding strikes to give the academy side all three points.
Interestingly, United do have one player who could likely be involved in the game who was around for the showdown 15 years ago.
A young Jonny Evans, just cutting his teeth at senior level, played in the 2009 league cup match and helped his side keep a clean sheet alongside Wes Brown in the heart of the defence.
With rotation likely to be on the menu and a few scares in that department against Southampton on Saturday, Evans could well be handed his first start of the new season after coming on as a late substitute at the weekend.
Another potential storyline is the Red Devils will be aiming to extend their impressive home cup record against lower league teams.
United have progressed well in the cups recently, winning both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in Erik ten Hag’s first two seasons in charge.
They beat Wigan Athletic, Newport County, and Coventry City on their way to lifting the FA Cup last season and have not lost at home to a lower league side since being defeated 0-1 by Leeds United back in January 2010.
Nonetheless, they were embarrassingly dumped out of the cup away from home to Milton Keynes Dons in 2014 after being thrashed 0-4 in Louis van Gaal’s first season in charge.
Ten Hag and the Old Trafford crowd will hope it is business as usual on Tuesday night.
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