There were bouquets and brickbats for yesterday's fourth-round FA Cup draw, which at least gave Manchester's dominant force and Merseyside's red faction an occasion to relish with United and Liverpool colliding at Old Trafford.

Alex Ferguson gushed over this repeat of the 1996 final. "It's a belter, fantastic," he said of the draw, which will also see a reprise of last year's semi-final between the holders Arsenal and Wolves, if the Arsenal beat Preston tonight.

Gianluca Vialli's Chelsea, immediately installed as 5 to 1 favourites by Ladbrokes - United are 7 to 1 - were hardly grimacing over a visit to Oxford United and Premiership leaders Aston Villa (6 to 1) will hardly be perturbed by the visit of Southampton or Fulham.

One Premiership club were upset, however, even though they were given a highly winnable tie at home to Stockport. Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Wilson was upset by the 4.00 p.m. television slot for the draw, made as his club were entertaining Norwich. Wednesday won 4-1 but that did not ease Wilson's fury - he learned that his team were playing for the Stockport tie from a fan behind the dug-out. "I didn't want to know and I didn't want the players to know," he said.