Norwich City vs Manchester United Odds & Preview: FA Cup Quarterfinal June 27

• Norwich entertain Manchester United in the first of this weekend’s FA Cup quarterfinals
• United looking to lift the FA Cup for a record-equalling 13th time
• We’ll preview the game, look at the odds and offer a pick

The 2019-20 FA Cup had reached the quarterfinal stage season before the lockdown but resumes again this weekend, on Saturday, June 27, KO at 12:30 pm EST. In the first of four ties, Premier League basement boys Norwich City entertain Manchester United to Carrow Road.

We’ll preview the game, look at how the teams are faring generally, and look for some good bets.

Norwich City vs Manchester United FA Cup Odds

Odds taken June 26

One Game from a Date at Wembley

Both teams have plenty left to play for in the Premier League but for very different reasons. City have the mother of all relegation on their hands as they are six points adrift at the bottom of the table with just seven games left to play, while United are locked in a battle with Chelsea for that lucrative fourth Champions League place.

But, for one weekend, both get to turn their attention away from the league to concentrate on the opportunity of earning a trip to Wembley for an FA Cup semifinal.

For the Canaries, away wins over Preston North End (4-2) and Burnley (2-1)  led them to a fifth-round tie at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they dramatically triumphed 3-2 on penalties after drawing 1-1 over 120 minutes. For City, this is just their seventh FA Cup quarterfinal.

United on a Roll

United’s route to the quarters was significantly more straightforward than Norwich’s in the fourth and fifth rounds, where they beat Tranmere (6-0) and Derby County (3-0) respectively, but their big challenge came in the third round, where they needed a replay to overcome Wolves after drawing the first tie, in Wolverhampton, 0-0.

In terms of pedigree, both in the FA Cup and in general, these two clubs are poles apart and, in fact, their respective Premier League seasons have been reflective of where both sit in English soccer’s hierarchy. United come into this match off the back of a 13-game unbeaten run, while Norwich have lost all three games since booking their place their quarterfinal place on March 4, including back-to-back home defeats since the restart.

Norwich City vs Manchester United Head-to-Head Stats

City on Brink of a Championship Return

The Canaries’ back-to-back defeats after the restart have all but signaled the end of their Premier League survival hopes and so it looks likely that manager Daniel Farke will go for broke in the hope of salvaging something from what has been a fairly disastrous season. Their midweek defeat by Everton was their 20th of the campaign, an unenviable club record that was last ‘achieved’ as far back as 1946-47.

The Canaries have only ever played in three FA Cup semifinals, so at stake is a little bit of club history, and Farke will be desperate for this season to be remembered for something other than a terrible league record. While he will make changes, due to the volume and close proximity of games after the restart, he’ll pick what he believes is a team capable of winning the game and not purely rest players for upcoming league games.

 City have the mother of all relegation on their hands as they are six points adrift at the bottom of the table with just seven games left to play

💬 "We want to achieve something magic. It's not realistic for a club of our size to win this competition but it's still possible and we will try very hard to do this."

The boss on City's success in the #FACup this year. pic.twitter.com/5Pm2INUogQ

— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) June 26, 2020

Same Old for United

For United, this is no big deal. A club of its stature sees FA Cup quarterfinals as the bare minimum and an empty Carrow Road takes away for Norwich the one big factor they had in their favor. United come into this in great form with Anthony Martial, on Wednesday, becoming the first United player to score a Premier League hat-trick since 2013 when the Red Devils easily beat Sheffield United 3-0.

It’s likely United boss ole Gunnar Solskjaer will make some changes, so it could be that Martial and Marcus Rashford will make way for Mason Greenwood and Odion Ighalo. It’s also likely he’ll look to give game time to the fit-again Paul Pogba – not good news for Norwich.

Changes for Norwich

For City, Emi Buendia, Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell were all omitted from the starting XI against Everton, so will be fresher for this game – possibly all part of Farke’s thinking – but they are still without center-backs Grant Hanley and Christoph Zimmermann.

So, while the romance of the cup still exists, it’s very difficult to make a case here for a Norwich win. Even at big odds-on for the United win (-217), this looks like easy money. Three goals or more at -120 is also well worth considering.

Pick: Manchester Utd to win (-217)