Louis van Gaal does not need reminding of the potential pitfalls that can await Manchester United against lower-league opposition in the English cups. The manager takes the 11-time FA Cup winners to Yeovil in the third round on Sunday barely four months after a humiliating loss to another third-tier team, MK Dons, in the League Cup.

And Yeovil, a south-western town with a population that could fit into United’s Old Trafford 76,000-capacity stadium almost twice over, is well known for its football team producing cup giant-killings.

Although some of the biggest scalps happened long ago, memorably in 1949 against then-English power Sunderland, they defined the club as it rose from the non-league to the professional ranks of English football. As a non-league team, Yeovil ousted 20 league sides, according to the FA, though they were routed 8-0 in 1949 by United.

The chance for unlikely revenge has finally come. “I was over the moon when we were drawn against Manchester United,” Yeovil manager Gary Johnson said. “I was in the house watching the draw with my wife and we both jumped up in the air and high-fived each other.”

As for beating the Premier League’s third-place team? “We’d need a miracle to pull it off,” Johnson said. “But the FA Cup is the FA Cup, that’s the beauty of it … nobody knows what’s going to happen.” Indeed, Yeovil’s website has documented United’s cup shocks in a “Giants Killed” section, highlighting losses to other third-tier sides: from Bournemouth and Leeds in the 1981 and 2010 third rounds, respectively.

Similar experience

“I had the same experience against MK Dons, who are also in League One,” Van Gaal said. “You never know in a cup match, you have to win because you’re out if you lose. We have to beat Yeovil but every team in England wants to beat Manchester United so it will be difficult. Everything about playing a lower league team will be different, the pitch, the stadium. For the players, it’s more difficult to prepare for a match like this, especially after playing so much over Christmas.”

But it’s been a gruelling period for every team, which is preparing for its fourth game in barely two weeks. The team standing in the way of holders Arsenal reaching the fourth round is the Hull side they beat in the final in May. Unless Arsenal’s defending improves, the trophy could be surrendered on Sunday.

In a break from their title tussle, leaders Chelsea and second-placed Manchester City play second-tier teams on Sunday. City take on Sheffield Wednesday, while Chelsea are at home to Watford.