Both the Tykes and the Red Devils came head to head four times the 1997/98 season whilstthe Owkwell club were in the Premier League - it being their salutary season. However the Lancashire club ran riot, claiming a 7-0 (Andy Cole hat-trick) rout in Manchester and a final day 2-0 win back in South Yorkshire.
A week alter after that 7-0 drumming the Old Trafford side claiming a 6-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday; and in the FA Cup the two sides met again but after a 1-1 draw a replay was taken to Oakwell where a resilient Tykes side over came the Kings of Football to book a place into the following round with a narrow 3-2 victory.
Manchester United saw two of their big name stars depart Old Trafford this summer; Christiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) left to their respected club and was replaced by former Liverpool and Newcastle United striker Michael Owen, whom joined on a free transfer.
The former England forward's arrival came under fire from their army of followers and the striker was classed as the 'black sheep' of Old Trafford, however he soon won over the hearts of their adoring fans when he netted five minutes into stoppage time to hand the Red Devils an historic 4-3 victory over bitter rivals City.
The Lancashire club booked a place into the fourth round of the Carling Cup after a one-nil home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers - youngster Danny Wellbeck (66 minutes) netted in front of a 51,160 crowed. They entered the competition at the third round stage due to their involvement in the UEFA Champions League.
Sir Alex Ferguson will travel to Oakwell without the services of Owen Hargreaves, the England international midfielder has been sidelined for twelve months following a knee injury - however he is close to a return and could be named on the substitutes bench for this Carling Cup tie.
Meanwhile Wayne Rooney (calf) is also expected to be sidelined, as is Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov whom are all listed as doubtful, however it is unlikely that if fit they will feature against the Tykes and would most probably be used in their heavy weight clash with Liverpool which took place this weekend.
Possible Red Devils Line-Up: Tomasz Kuszczak, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Da Silva Fabio, Johny Evans, Luis Carlos Nani, Darron Gibson, Michael Carrick, Federico Macheda, Danny Wellbeck, Michael Owen.
| KUSZCAK | |||
| NEVILLE | FABIO | EVANS | BROWN |
| MACHEDA | CARRICK | GIBSON | NANI |
| WELLBECK | OWEN | ||
Prediction: Barnsley 1-3 Manchester United
:: Statistics ::
For Head to Head statistics please click here.
Last 10 Games... Home & Away
| 1997/1998 | Sun 10 May | Barnsley | 0 - 2 | Man. Utd. | Premiership |
| Wed 25 Feb | Barnsley | 3 - 2 | Man. Utd. | F.A. Cup | |
| Sun 15 Feb | Man. Utd. | 1 - 1 | Barnsley | F.A. Cup | |
| Sat 25 Oct | Man. Utd. | 7 - 0 | Barnsley | Premiership | |
| 1963/1964 | Sat 15 Feb | Barnsley | 0 - 4 | Man. Utd. | F.A. Cup |
| 1937/1938 | Wed 02 Feb | Barnsley | 2 - 2 | Man. Utd. | Second Division |
| Wed 26 Jan | Man. Utd. | 1 - 0 | Barnsley | F.A. Cup | |
| Sat 22 Jan | Barnsley | 2 - 2 | Man. Utd. | F.A. Cup | |
| Sat 11 Sep | Man. Utd. | 4 - 1 | Barnsley | Second Division | |
| 1935/1936 | Wed 01 Jan | Barnsley | 0 - 3 | Man. Utd. | Second Division |
| Head to Head Statistics... | Goals | |||||
| Venue | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
| Home | 19 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 30 |
| Away | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 44 |
Total | 37 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 27 | 74 |
* Statistics correct up to and including 01/08/2009
Wins are in favour of Barnsley
:: Match Officials ::
Referee: C. Foy
Assistants: J. Collin & R. West
Fourth Official: A. Hall