Former Huddersfield Town and Manchester United player Ben Thornley believes Jose Mourinho will not allow history to repeat itself this weekend.
The Portuguese boss brings his United side to the John Smith’s Stadium for a mouth-watering FA Cup fifth-round clash against Town tomorrow (kick-off 5.30pm).
And the last time the two sides met in West Yorkshire back in October, the Terriers recorded a historic 2-1 victory over the Red Devils courtesy of Laurent Depoitre and Aaron Mooy strikes.
But with United’s Premier League title aspirations all but over, trailing Manchester rivals City by a whopping 16 points, the cup competition appears United’s legitimate chance of silverware this campaign.
“I don’t think Jose Mourinho will allow history to repeat itself, it’s a tall order for Huddersfield,” Ben Thornley said.
“United had a poor game that day, they were poor against Southampton before the turn of the year and they were poor last weekend against Newcastle United.
“So you are talking about maybe a very abject performance every seven or eight games for them and I can’t see another one happening tomorrow.
“It’s another step closer to a trophy for them and I can’t see that whatever team Mourinho picks will be a weakened one.
“They will go and perform and want to get a little bit of revenge for that league fixture earlier in the season.”
Thornley, who came through the youth ranks at Old Trafford before spending three years with Town from 1998 onwards, believes the pressure is definitely on the visitors – and that could give Town a glimmer of hope.
However, the 42-year-old is wary of what any shock result could mean in the long-run for Town’s Premier League survival chances.
“The pressure is probably more on Manchester United with Premier League survival the main priority for Huddersfield Town,” added Thornley.
“It means Town can go out and play with a sense of freedom and I would love to think they could spring a surprise, but then I am unsure whether it would help or hinder their progress in trying to maintain top-flight status.
“I’m pretty sure any Huddersfield Town fan, and perhaps even David Wagner and the Board, would much rather they survive in the top-flight.”
And regardless of the final outcome tomorrow, what has Thornley made of Town’s inaugural Premier League campaign?
“Nobody was more pleased than me when they got promotion last season,” Thornley said.
“They had a really good start to the season and surprised everybody, and it perhaps made everyone sit up and take note that Huddersfield Town were not just coming into the Premier League to make up the numbers.
“I watched them against Bournemouth and thought they were absolutely brilliant – and they thoroughly deserved the victory they got.
“For me, I think they have the squad depth but it’s just whether they have enough quality.”
