CHAMPIONSHIP SIDE Leeds United will be hoping to repeat their English FA Cup exploits from two seasons ago when they take on Premier League leaders Manchester United at Elland Road in the League Cup third round tonight.
The then League One side beat United 1-0 at Old Trafford and manager Simon Grayson hopes to repeat the feat in their much-anticipated game.
Grayson has shrugged off the suggestion his team are “dirty” following criticisms about the number of red cards they have had this season.
“Look at the four cards we’ve had,” he said. “When you look at them, you can’t say we’re a dirty team.
“If I had players going over the top and making crude challenges then we should have some sort of criticism, but not at this particular time.”
With injuries starting to affect his squad, Alex Ferguson may end up using more young players than he initially imagined in tonight’s tie.
Michael Owen, Park Ji-sung, Fabio, Antonio Valencia, Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf are among those who need a game and the same was also true of Dimitar Berbatov before Javier Hernandez’s injury in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Chelsea shunted the Bulgarian up the striking roster.
Paul Pogba and Will Keane are amongst the youngsters who might be involved.
Arsene Wenger will field a youthful line-up alongside some older heads as Arsenal aim to avoid an unthinkable shock against Shrewsbury.
The League Two side could hardly have picked a better time to play the Gunners, who are shipping goals at an alarming rate.
Wenger has confirmed he will give a debut to Korean striker Park Chu-Young, while Japanese forward Ryo Miyaichi and fellow 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can also expect to make their first starts.
Wenger said: “I will be faithful to our policy but I will try to find a good mixture between youth and experience.”
The players with greater experience likely to feature at the Emirates include Andre Santos and Marouane Chamakh, while Emmanuel Frimpong, Carl Jenkinson and Francis Coquelin may also play.
William Gallas and Sandro could make their first Tottenham appearances of the season at Stoke tonight.
Gallas (calf) and Sandro (knee) both picked up their injuries this summer but will play if they show no ill effects from training yesterday.
