Abhranil Roy
Manchester United will be looking to avenge the humiliating defeat they suffered at the hands of minnows FC Midtlljylland last week at the MCH Arena. The Red Devils were outplayed especially in the 2nd half as the Scandinavians first equalised, and then scored the winning goal through Sisoto and Ochua respectively. The team, especially in the middle of the park, looked slow and lacked desire.
However, that poor performance has been backed up with a 3-0 win at Shrewsbury Town in the sixth round of the FA Cup. It would be a mistake to read too much into that win though, as the League One side were extremely poor in their approach. One hopes though, that scoring 3 will put some belief into the team, and backed with an away goal and a vociferous home support, we can overturn the 2-1 deficit.
Predicted Line Up(4-2-3-1):
Goalkeeper:
David De Gea
The Spaniard picked up an injury in the pre match practice session in the first leg, and hasn’t featured in the lineup since then, one hopes he will be back for the crucial tie on Thursday. Although Sergio Romero has been excellent as a deputy, making a number of key saves specially in Denmark, yet De Gea is easily the guy United would look to have in such a crunch tie.
Defence:
Donald Love, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Cameron Borthwick Jackson
Donald Love and Borthwick Jackson were both excellent in their fullback positions in the first leg. It was the centre backs who were poor in that game, and Chris Smalling in particular was completely off color as his poor marking cost us a goal. Louis van Gaal has had to use a lot of youngsters to deputize for their injured senior counterparts and thankfully, almost all of them has had good debuts. The weekend saw Guillermo Varela and Joe Riley feature for the team, and they were very composed on the ball too. Let’s hope that everyone puts in a solid shift in the second tie, and Smalling, who has been our best defender this season, exorcises some ghosts.
Holding Midfield:
Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera
The double pivot of Herrera and Schneiderlin looked good versus Shrewsbury, and with Bastian injured and Carrick’s poor show in the first leg, we might get to see those two again. Herrera has come under severe criticism of late and rightly so, while Morgan is yet to consistently display the class that made him one of the best midfielders in the league last season.
Attacking Midfield:
Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Memphis Depay
Lingard has been in fine form this season, scoring 5 goals in 11 appearances. Juan Mata has looked good of late, and he even picked up a Man Of The Match performance last Sunday. Memphis Depay has struggled at times, and although it was he who gave the lead to United in the first leg, and the Dutchman will hope that he finally starts hitting the stride from now on.
Striker:
Anthony Martial
With Wayne Rooney out for 2 months and Will Keane picking up a groin injury against Shrewsbury, Martial will probably be leading the United line up. The Frenchman has been involved with 19 goals for United already this season, acoring 10 of them. He will be looking to continue his rich vein of form and helping the team to script a proper comeback.
