The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsIt is the 4th round of the Capital One cup this week with matches being played on Tuesday 27th October and Wednesday 28th October. With only 16 teams left all the teams who remain will be looking at going onto the Wembley final in February.
Two teams who are looking onto the Wembley final are Middlesbrough and Manchester United, however only 1 of these teams can make it through to the quarter finals in December as they will meet at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
It is expected to be a sold out match with Middlesbrough backed by a 10,000 strong away support, the second highest ever to go to Old Trafford. Both these teams are looking to be near the top of their leagues. With Boro fighting it out at the top of the Championship after narrowly missing it out, United trying to win the Premiership. Boro have
got a history of causing a cup shock a few times after they held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw, only to lose 13-14 on Penalties at Anfield in the 3rd round of this cup last year. They also managed to beat Premiership giants, Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester United
Manchester United have one of the best domestic trophy records around. They have had 20 1st division and Premiership titles, 11 FA Cups and 4 league cups in their 137 year history. They have also managed 5 European titles as well. United have a good records in most competitions and have always done well. They have always managed to be 1 of the best teams in this country and they have a massive worldwide fan base. They have the largest domestic stadium in Britain with Old Trafford having a 74,000 capacity.
This season they have had 8 wins in total after 11 games and they have 20 points in the Premiership. Their top scorer in the League is new signing Anthony Martial as well as Juan Mata who both have 3 goals in the Premiership. Rooney is the top scorer in all competitions with 6 goals between the League, Capital One cup and Champions League. They have got a strong squad with young stars, Martial and Depay both capable of causing a lot of damage to the opponents.
Middlesbrough
Boro are in their 7th consecutive season in the Championship after being relegated in 2009. They have only won one major domestic cup which was the League cup in 2004 when they beat Bolton 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They then went on to get to the quarter final of the UEFA Cup and then lost in the final of the UEFA Cup the following year. They have managed to get to the Final of the League cup twice before winning it, in 1997&98 in which they lost both. The only other time they have managed a major domestic final was the 1997 FA Cup final which they also lost.
This season they have 7 wins this season in the Championship and are currently 4th in the Championship and are 5 points below the league leaders Brighton. They will wish to try to get promoted this season after losing to Norwich 2-0 at Wembley in the Playoffs. Their current top scorer in the league is Fabbrini who is on 4 and their summer signing Stuani is the top scorer in all competitions with 7 and is currently joint top scorer in the Capital 1 cup with 4 goals to his name. Boro have a strong squad who can and are looking to cause a big upset in this competition. Boro have had big summer signings like Downing who scored an amazing free-kick against Wolves on Saturday.
