Minamino’s Merseyside derby baptism, Woodgate’s Tottenham reunion and non-league Fylde take on Sheffield United
Considering they have been fairly regular visitors over the years, Derby’s record at Selhurst Park is pretty miserable. Indeed in their past 15 trips – a run stretching back to 1983 – they’ve won only once. That victory came in 2002 when Georgi Kinkladze scored the only goal of the game. A big-name big-money player past his peak helping the Rams to an unlikely win in south London? You might be able to spot where this is going. Wayne Rooney made his playing return to English football on Thursday night and played a full 90 minutes in the 2-1 defeat of Barnsley in which his free-kick supplied Jack Marriott’s opening goal. Two games in four days might be aa stretch for a 34-year-old who had not played since October but he could prove quite the talisman: while Derby’s record at Selhurst is poor, Rooney’s is not – he has never been on the losing side at the ground. JA
Written by Nick Ames, John Ashdown and Barry Glendenning
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/jan/02/fa-cup-third-round-10-things-to-look-out-for-this-weekend under the title “FA Cup third round: 10 things to look out for this weekend”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
