Dimitar Berbatov's hot goal-scoring run is helping to mask Wayne Rooney's struggles as treble-chasing Manchester United goes to Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Another two goals for Berbatov on Tuesday enabled the Premier League leaders to rally for a 3-2 victory at Blackpool and took the Bulgarian's tally for the season to 19.
The 30.75-million pound (then $55-million) recruit has already scored more than in each of his previous two seasons since joining from Tottenham in 2008.
"Dimitar is having a fantastic season and long may it continue," United midfielder Darren Fletcher said. "His confidence is really high and he probably feels as though he could score every time he gets the ball.
"He is putting himself into goalscoring areas, which is why his goal tally is rising so quickly. He is getting into areas that hurt teams. Strikers want to score fantastic goals but tap-ins are just as important."
It was telling that United's fightback from two goals down at Blackpool only began in the 72nd minute once Rooney had been hauled off by manager Alex Ferguson and replaced by younger striker Javier Hernandez.
While the 22-year-old Hernandez has scored nine times in his first season in English football, Rooney has netted just three during a campaign marred by personal, contractual and injury problems.
The 25-year-old Rooney's tally was 20 at this stage last season before going on to net 33 in total and he has since been handed a lucrative new contract after threatening to leave Old Trafford.
Hernandez, though, has emerged as a more crucial member of the team, which is also in the last-16 of the Champions League.
"He's a natural goalscorer," Fletcher said of the Mexican. "He's still young and improving his game, but one thing he has got is the eye for a goal, to be in the right place at the right time. He shows coolness and composure with his finishing."
United, which reached the fourth round of the FA Cup by beating Liverpool, has won the competition a record eleven times but not since 2004.
The team was denied the title in the 1976 final by Southampton, which was then playing in the second tier and is now a division lower down. The teams last met in the third round of the FA Cup two years ago when United won 3-0 at St. Mary's.
The current holders are also in action on Saturday, with Chelsea traveling to Everton - the team it beat in the 2009 final - after finally discovering the form that also helped Carlo Ancelotti's team win the Premier League last May.
The return of key players to full fitness has coincided with the Blues winning their last three matches by scoring 13 goals without reply, starting with a 7-0 rout of Ipswich in the FA Cup third round.
Chelsea, though, remains fourth in the Premier League - 10 points behind leader United.
"As we said before the Ipswich game, we are looking for a run and we've got now three victories in a row, three clean sheets in a row, we scored lots of goals," Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech said. "I think this is the run you need to forget about the bad moment, the bad period we experienced."
The pressure on Arsenal has been to deliver a first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup. The Gunners already have one Wembley Stadium final to look forward to next month after beating Ipswich in the semifinals of the League Cup on Tuesday.
"We play Huddersfield (in the FA Cup fourth round) on Sunday at the Emirates, so to be capable to focus on that game will be vital for us," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "We have a chance to deliver, but it will be down to delivering the needed performance on the day. That is part of mental strength as well."
Manchester City's trophy drought stretches back even longer than Arsenal's to the 1976 League Cup final. City, which is third in the Premier League, goes to third-tier club Notts County in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Also Sunday, Tottenham travels across London to face Premier League rival Fulham, West Ham - the Premier League's bottom club - hosts Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton takes on Stoke.
Saturday's other fourth-round fixtures are: Aston Villa vs. Blackburn; Birmingham vs. Coventry; Bolton vs. Wigan; Burnley vs. Burton Albion; Sheffield Wednesday vs. Hereford; Stevenage vs. Reading; Swansea vs. Leyton Orient; Torquay vs. Crawley Town; and Watford vs. Brighton.
