Former Charlton Athletic player and manager Alan Curbishley believes the Addicks' players will be unknown quantities to Manchester United's stars on Tuesday night.
The Reds face the League One outfit in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup, with Erik ten Hag's side desperate to seal their place in the next round and extend their winning run in all competitions to eight matches. United secured victories over Aston Villa and Burnley in the previous rounds.
United also progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 victory over Everton on Friday night - with goals from Antony and Marcus Rashford, as well as a Conor Coady own goal, securing the Reds' place in the next round.
ALSO READ: Three things spotted in United training ahead of Charlton Athletic clash
Charlton, meanwhile, currently find themselves in 12th position in League One. Dean Holden's men have overcome QPR, Walsall, Stevenage and Brighton in the previous rounds of the Carabao Cup.
Despite coming up against an in-form United side, Curbishley - who took charge of more than 400 matches at Charlton manager - believes the Addicks have got a 'free hit' against Ten Hag's side.
"The Charlton boys know who they are playing against," he told the Metro. "They see them week in, week out on TV. Man United aren’t going to know who they’re playing against and people like Jes Rak-Sakyi and Corey Blackett-Taylor can do damage.
"What we’ve got in our favour is the unknown quantity. Obviously it’s going to be massively tough. United have picked up and are going great guns but (manager) Dean Holden has come out and said that, like the Brighton game in the last round, it’s a free hit."
Curbishley also suggested that it was probably the right decision to let Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club in November. The 65-year-old claimed that it didn't appear to be a 'happy camp' while the Portuguese ace was at Old Trafford.
He added: "I don’t think it was just Ronaldo, it wasn’t a happy camp. He wasn’t happy, the team wasn’t doing so well, the fans weren’t happy.
"Now he has left it has coincided with the team picking up and everyone’s happy. They’re looking like top-four prospects where perhaps a month ago they weren’t."
The two sides have not met since February 2007, with United having won 2-0 in the Premier League thanks to goals from Park Ji-sung and Darren Fletcher.
READ NEXT:
