Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made just two changes to the Manchester United side that narrowly beat Aston Villa last Friday ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final tie against rivals Manchester City.
Solskjaer has only tinkered with the side in areas that he really would’ve been expected to beforehand as academy graduate Dean Henderson gets a chance in between the sticks ahead of No.1 David de Gea.
The in-form Eric Bailly has been awarded a well-deserved break after his fine string of performances since he returned to action a couple of weeks ago, this is smart handling of the injury-prone star.
The bench is largely the same, it’s quite surprising that summer signing Donny van de Beek has not been afforded the chance to shine, even though a place in the final is at stake.
Take a look at the Red Devils’ lineup below:
? ???? ????!
? Ole has made 2?? changes to our starting XI for tonight’s semi-final ?
? #MUFC
? #CarabaoCup— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 6, 2021
Here’s how some of the United faithful have reacted to Solskjaer’s teamsheet:
Pray for Manchester City plastics.
— Gerald Ngao ?? (@geraldngaopk) January 6, 2021
Wow, Bailly puts in 2 MOTM performances just to get dropped for a bloke who hasn’t played on 2 games? Dropped De Gea because you have Henderson penciled in, yet VDB started all EFL Cup games and doesn’t play?
Ole still has a lot to learn. Let’s get the W. ??
— Joshua (@KickingReds) January 6, 2021
WHERE IS BAILLY
— Josh (@UtdJxshh) January 6, 2021
Why is bailly dropped?
— As? (@_amrshahwan) January 6, 2021
No Bailly massive L incoming
— Cayden ?? (@CaydenUTD) January 6, 2021
WHY WHY IS BAILLY BENCHED. I WAS SO HAPPY AND THEN I SAW BAILLY BENCHED
— Elite Martial?? (@MysticalMartial) January 6, 2021
So as i suspected and am happy with he’s using diamond in big games instead of 5atb, shocked at bailly dropped but let’s win
— Stan ?? (@SUPER_SPlDER) January 6, 2021
I can’t believe the comments complaining about resting our injury prone centre back ?
— Ben Scattergood (@benskat1) January 6, 2021
Bailey needs be managed carefully and keeping him fit for premier league game is what I wanted ??
— Bishrant Bastola (@Bishraveiro) January 6, 2021
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola has made just two changes to the Manchester City side that embarrassed Chelsea, with some of the Citizens’ personnel still missing due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
Whilst some supporters would’ve expected heavy rotation, it’s not surprising to see that isn’t the case as Premier League sides have favourable FA Cup ties next up – where both of tonight’s team will find it better suited to rest their key stars.
You only have to have a look at where these rags are from to see who the true plastics are.
0-2 in your Cup Final. Hilarious.