European goal

A WEEK ago a harmless, typically spur-of-the-moment, chant by Manchester United fans celebrated victory over Manchester City - "Three- nil, without Cantona." Would that all of the chants last week had been so inoffensive. "No surrender to the IRA" to a similar clipped tune had no relevance to football. Today the question is whether United, again without Cantona, can achieve another potentially substantial win, this time against Leeds United in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford.

At the same time at St James' Park, United's presumably demoralised neighbours, Manchester City, may not have recovered enough to take advantage of Newcastle's recent downs and ups. For United and Newcastle the dominating thought is that continued survival in the FA Cup offers them another road into Europe should Blackburn take the high road by winning the Premiership and going into the European Cup.

For United, particularly, that threat alone ought to be enough to concentrate the minds of players who this season have again jeopardised both the financial well-being and good name of the club by getting embittered and embattled. Meetings with Leeds tend to be rancorous affairs, and that could be to Manchester United's disadvantage.

With Andy Cole Cup-tied, United are almost certain to bring back Mark Hughes, who is a long way from full fitness but has never been afraid to take risks with his limbs. Even if he can play part of the match, that could be enough to cause a Leeds team without the suspended Carlton Palmer and Brian Deane problems in their own half.

"We know that if we show any sign of weakness, they'll be at us," Gary McAllister said yesterday. But the Leeds captain hopes that with Gary Speed, John Pemberton and Gary Kelly likely to return and the Ghanaian Tony Yeboah possibly in the starting line-up for the first time, his team can show the form that was too much for Manchester United in September. For their part, the Double-holders are on a run of 11 undefeated games and are strengthened by the return of Roy Keane. What irony if Hughes, whose future at Old Trafford was doubted when Cole arrived, should prove the winner.

The last time Newcastle won the Cup was in 1955 - against today's opponents, Manchester City. They won 3-1, which, on present Premiership positions could be the outcome today, but they seem almost a different team in cup competition (they beat Newcastle in the Coca-Cola Cup and Villa in the FA Cup). Their confidence is helped by the news that Barry Venison should pass a fitness test. It was Venison's absence earlier in the season that was a main reason for their midfield slackness.

City's concern is that the inspirational Paul Walsh may not be fit enough to play. Walsh not only has great experience but is capable of winning matches with a shrug of the shoulders and a toss of that out-dated mane.

No shock is ever quite going to equal that Wimbledon victory over Liverpool in the 1988 final, but a tremor on the lower end of the Richter scale could be felt at Anfield today. All the signs are there. Wimbledon's 7- 1 defeat by Aston Villa last week is obviously going to craze the gang even more than usual, and in recent months the Liverpool defence has never looked more uneasy than when faced with waves of fast-running attacks.

That Liverpool defensive weakness could be compounded by the absence of Babb, which means that the whole team will once again be depending all too much on the skills and pace of McManaman. Wimbledon will have the old (45) England goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, on the bench but it is not going to be a match for the middle-aged or the faint-hearted.