Former Old Trafford hero could inflict more pain on Ruben Amorim in FA Cup but both managers are struggling

Ruud van Nistelrooy has always had a grand old time at Old Trafford, something that will no doubt be on the Leicester manager’s mind as his side travel to Manchester United for their FA Cup fourth-round tie on Friday.

As a player, the Dutchman scored 150 goals in fewer than 200 starts during an astonishing five‑year period at United. After his return as Erik ten Hag’s assistant coach last year, he briefly replaced his compatriot in October for a successful four-game interim spell in which United won three matches (scoring 11 and conceding three) and drew at home to Chelsea.

Marcus Rashford could make his Aston Villa debut as Birmingham aim to bring Newcastle back to earth

For spice, consider how this tie is the sides’ third meeting this term. Manchester United won the first two with an aggregate of 8-2, Ruud van Nistelrooy was interim manager for each, then Ruben Amorim made the Dutchman unemployed when taking over as the head coach in mid-autumn. Now returning to Old Trafford as Leicester’s manager, Van Nistelrooy can expect a warm welcome due to his former status as a star United striker. But if he engineers a knockout of the holders, Van Nistelrooy will be recast, temporarily, as the villain of the faithful. Jamie Jackson

Manchester United v Leicester, Friday 8pm (all times GMT)

Leyton Orient v Manchester City, Saturday 12.15pm

Coventry v Ipswich, Saturday 3pm

Everton v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

• Head coach has lost seven league games since his arrival
• Amorim: ‘I couldn’t get Rashford to see football how I do’

Ruben Amorim does not fear the sack even if Manchester United’s slump worsens under his watch, with the head coach sure of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s support.

United’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday was a seventh loss in 13 Premier League games under Amorim with the result leaving them in 13th place with a -6 goal difference.

• Central defender will not play again this season
• Amorim clear he will be blamed if results do not pick up

Manchester United have confirmed that Lisandro Martínez sustained a cruciate ligament injury in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace, ruling out the defender until next season.

Martínez was hurt after 82 minutes and had to be taken off on a stretcher after treatment.

• Profit from player sales will again be key to signings
• United remain open to selling Garnacho and Mainoo

Manchester United face another difficult transfer window in the summer due to limited finances, with the ability to considerably strengthen Ruben Amorim’s squad dependent on accruing a profit from player sales.

United could afford only the £25.1m outlay to buy Patrick Dorgu from Lecce and Ayden Heaven from Arsenal for a fee in the region of £1.5m during the most recent transfer window. After loaning Marcus Rashford to Aston Villa and Antony to Real Betis, there were no funds to replace the forwards in Amorim’s squad. This was despite a minimum 75% of Rashford’s £365,000-a-week wage being paid by Villa, and Betis sourcing 84% of Antony’s £150,000 a-week salary.

No other footballer presents such an obvious mismatch between celebrity status and actual on-field performance

Watching Sky Sports News this weekend it was hard not to feel a rush of sympathy for Flex, the YouTube pundit and transfer‑chat expert. Flex seems like a nice bloke. He’s clearly well informed on players and clubs. He seems to genuinely care about this stuff.

On this occasion, however, he was thrown a genuine hospital pass, asked to stand next to a vast picture of Marcus Rashford’s head and talk about, well, basically, the entity that is Marcus Rashford. What is it? Is it good? What can it do? What do you think, Flex, about all this? Basically, Flex, just say Marcus Rashford words.

• Latest news and updates before 11pm GMT deadline
• The Rumour Mill: Tel to Arsenal? Félix to Milan?
• Men’s transfer interactive: deals from around Europe
• Get in touch: email Will with your thoughts

Manchester United would not be surprised if Chelsea make a cheeky late bid for Alejandro Garnacho though the early signs are the west London club may not. For United, after letting both Marcus Rashford and Antony go on loan (to Aston Villa and Real Betis) there would surely be serious uproar if Sir Jim Ratcliffe allowed another wide forward, who Ruben Amorim talked up last week, to depart.

Ruben Amorim left more than £100m of striker on the bench in yesterday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Surely he wants the Manchester United hierarchy to invest in someone that guarantees goals. He also sanctioned the departures of Antony and Marcus Rashford, leaving them short of options in attack, not that either has done anything of note this season.

• Relationship between player and club near irreparable
• Rashford praises ‘top manager’ Unai Emery

Marcus Rashford is extremely unlikely to play competitively for Manchester United again even if Ruben Amorim is no longer the head coach, with the relationship between the forward and his boyhood club near irreparable.

Rashford joined Aston Villa on loan on Sunday for the rest of the season and the 27-year-old is expected to depart again in the summer, permanently or on loan, even if Amorim is no longer there. The England international has a contract at Old Trafford until 2028.

Arsenal relish City demolition as Sels shines while Liverpool carry on regardless at the top

Any successful title challenge needs a statement victory to install belief and reset previous concerns. Beating Manchester City must now be Arsenal’s foundation and not the zenith. Arsenal have played much of this season as if distracted by situations beyond their control – referees, their rivals’ dispositions and their relative luck with injuries. The second-half performance was a reminder of how Mikel Arteta previously took Arsenal to the verge of title wins, playing high-grade attacking football, pressing their opponents into mistakes. Has the high-quality football returned at the right time? Arteta’s team maintained discipline, not rising to provocations before taking advantage of City’s malfunctions to run in five goals. All without Bukayo Saka, whose loss was supposed to be the end of the affair. In Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, both on the scoresheet, the next generation made its contribution on a perfect Sunday for club and manager. One to celebrate and build on, not bask in. John Brewin

Match report: Arsenal 5-1 Manchester City

Match report: Brentford 0-2 Tottenham

Match report: Manchester United 0-2 Crystal Palace

Match report: Wolves 2-0 Aston Villa

Match report: Bournemouth 0-2 Liverpool

Match report: Ipswich 1-2 Southampton

Match report: Everton 4-0 Leicester

Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Fulham

Match report: Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton

• Villa could buy forward in summer for £40m
• Ruben Amorim not worried if Rashford scores regularly

Marcus Rashford’s loan move to Aston Villa was confirmed by Manchester United late on Sunday evening, with the club wishing him “good luck for the rest of the season”.

The forward’s departure comes after Ruben Amorim refused to play him since mid-December due to “training reasons”. In a statement United said: “Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has joined Aston Villa on loan until the end of the 2024-25 season. Everyone at Manchester United wishes Marcus good luck for the rest of the season.”

Ruben Amorim’s wish to “create some danger” flared at the start of each half, then faded, as Manchester United were suckerpunched by Jean‑Philippe Mateta’s second goal, on 89 minutes, that sealed a first defeat in four games.

United and Crystal Palace were becalmed in front of goal except for when the Eagles twice took advantage of the home side’s slipshod defending. Mateta’s finish was simple. Ismaïla Sarr received the ball from the substitute Adam Wharton, shrugged off a challenge near halfway and slid the ball to Daniel Muñoz. He ran forward and squared to the striker, who did not miss.

• Versatile attacker keen to leave Bayern Munich
• Tel rejected permanent move to Tottenham last week

Arsenal are exploring a loan deal for Mathys Tel but face competition from Manchester United for the Bayern Munich forward.

Tel, who rejected a permanent move to Tottenham after they had agreed a £50m fee with Bayern last week, has expressed his desire to leave in this window having played only 252 minutes in the Bundesliga this season.

• Denmark international signs deal until June 2020
• Dorgu ‘cannot wait to work with Ruben Amorim’

Manchester United have completed the signing of Patrick Dorgu from Lecce, subject to visa and registration. The Denmark international has signed a contract until June 2030, with the option of an additional year.

Dorgu, who can play as a left-back, right-back or further forward on the flanks, has played 57 games for Lecce, contributing five goals. United have paid an initial €30m fee (£25.1m) with up to €5m (£4.2m) payable in bonuses.

• Unai Emery driving more for out-of-favour forward
• Villa discussing including option to buy Rashford

Aston Villa are close to agreeing a deal to sign Marcus Rashford on loan for the rest of the season, with Unai Emery driving the move to sign the out-of-favour Manchester United forward.

Villa have been exploring the market in that position after the departure of Jhon Durán, with Matheus Cunha, João Félix, Marco Asensio and Mathys Tel among the options considered. Villa regard Rashford as a low-risk signing given they are unlikely to pay a fee.

• Defender says Amorim’s media tactics are a positive
• United face Palace hoping for back-to-back league wins

Diogo Dalot has made clear his desire not to be part of Manchester United’s worst-ever team.

Ruben Amorim described United’s current side as such following last month’s 3-1 defeat by Brighton at Old Trafford. “I don’t want to hear it,” said Dalot following United’s 2-0 victory over FCSB in the Europa League on Thursday. “So the message for me is that the next training session I have to show that I don’t want to belong to the worse Manchester United team in history.

The Irishman enjoyed a ‘Cantona moment’ during a a fiery encounter at Highbury, on and off the pitch

Before the goal, before the game even, there was the tunnel. It’s the moment that stands largest exactly 20 years on, romantic to those who hanker for the days of ill-fitting kits and a bit more pre-match needle; glorious to those who say We Used To Be A Proper Country.

Enter Roy Keane, undeterred by the claustrophobia of the Highbury corridor, finger-pointing and letting rip: “We’ll see you out there … shouting your mouth off, you, every week, you.” Drop in some bleeps. Patrick Vieira is at the other end, taking the heat for having a pre-match pop at Gary Neville. The referee/headteacher, Graham Poll, transforms into a yucca plant, calming Keane until it’s time. Out there they go.

Manchester United are simultaneously the world’s fourth-richest club while taking away free cereal bars for stewards

Bad news for Marcus Rashford, who was described by Ruben Amorim last week as being so poor in training that he would rather play his goalkeeping coach. Great news, on the other hand, for new 63-year-old wide forward Jorge Vital, now weighing up a number of offers from Serie A and Saudi Pro League clubs, and whom Manchester United are hopeful of shifting from the wage bill before the end of the transfer window.

For this cash-strapped theatre of ghosts, trying to build its new cast of dreams on the bones of the old, perhaps every pound helps. Corporate box guests at Old Trafford no longer get a free match programme each and are instead invited to download the dictated thoughts of Amorim via a QR code. Free cereal bars for matchday stewards were cut at the beginning of the season. The annual £100 staff Christmas bonus was replaced by a £40 M&S voucher. Concessionary tickets for children and the senior citizens were temporarily withdrawn.

Today’s fluff have a hint of deja vu

At the start of the 2023 summer transfer window, few predicted the twists Jordan Henderson’s career would take. The 34-year-old, recently linked with a move to Monaco, is in the spotlight again after a turbulent 18 months.

The former Liverpool captain’s reputation took a hit after a brief and controversial stint in the Saudi Pro League that ended when his Al-Ettifaq contract was mutually terminated, but his move to Ajax seemed like a fresh start. Quickly, he reclaimed leadership, even captaining the Dutch side.

• Rashford has rejected teams including Tottenham
• Manchester United keen on Mathys Tel as replacement

Marcus Rashford has his heart set on a loan move to Barcelona before Monday’s transfer deadline but a deal will go through only if the Catalan club can offload up to two players.

Rashford has rejected offers from several other clubs including Tottenham because of his determination to join Barcelona. Under La Liga’s squad cost limit rules Barcelona will have to generate funds to be able to spend the money required to sign Rashford from Manchester United. They are prepared in principle to cover most or all of Rashford’s £375,000-a-week salary.

There’s a huge game at Bournemouth, a huge game at Arsenal and … er, a huge game at Portman Road

• Premier League top scorers: latest Golden Boot race

Nuno Espírito Santo said that at Bournemouth last weekend, where they were humbled 5-0, his Nottingham Forest side had been “not accurate and missed a lot of passes”. It is interesting that four of Forest’s last five – and five of their last eight – Premier League games rank in their bottom eight of the season on pass completion. “We have to perform much better,” he said. “We have to be more solid and play better football. We have so many things to improve.” Though results in that period, at least until last week, continued to be good they have relied on statistically unlikely displays of finishing prowess. Before their trip to Bournemouth, Forest had scored with nine of their previous 12 shots on target in all competitions and the last time a Chris Wood shot on target failed to go in was before Christmas. Both Nuno and Fabian Hürzeler were sent off for misconduct during a rancorous conclusion to the fixture between these sides at the Amex Stadium last September. Simon Burnton

Nottingham Forest v Brighton, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Bournemouth v Liverpool, Saturday 3pm

Everton v Leicester, Saturday 3pm

Ipswich v Southampton, Saturday 3pm