Confirmed Starting XI: Greenwood leads the line against City; Rashford, Lingard and James in support; Martial on the bench

Manchester United will be pitted against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Old Trafford this evening. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United got the better of Pep Guardiola’s City a month ago at the Etihad in the Premier League. This will be a tough match for United as City will be seeking both revenge for their last defeat and to retain the trophy they won last season.

Solskjaer has some problems to contend with ahead of this match from the injuries of Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba, which has a negative effect on the team and the fact that there is a massive lack of creativity in the team, followed by an inability to pressure the opposition which was seen in the last match away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Emirates FA Cup where United had no shots on target.

It will be the second Manchester derby of the season, the first at Old Trafford so tensions will be high with the current Premier League and Carabao Cup holders arrive at the Theatre of Dreams. The players should be motivated for this game, if not, why not. It would be good to see United return to winning ways but much like in the last match, United need to ensure they actually turn a corner, not regress once again.

Manchester United:

De Gea;

Wan-Bissaka, Jones, Lindelof, Williams;

Fred, Pereira;

James, Lingard, Rashford;

Greenwood

Substitutes:

Romero; Dalot; Mata, Gomes, Matic, Chong; Martial

Manchester City:

Bravo;

Walker, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Mendy;

Rodrigo, Gündogan, De Bruyne;

Mahrez, Sterling, Bernardo

Substitutes:

Ederson; Cancelo, Garcia; D. Silva, Foden; Jesus, Aguero

United and City have played a total of 179 matches in this history of both clubs with the first match being played in 1891. United have won 74 times, drawn 52 times and lost 53 times. The last defeat to City came in the Premier League back in April 2019, a 2-0 defeat at the Old Trafford with Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sané scoring in the second half of the game. City did the double over United last season, winning 3-1 at home.

At the start of December 2019, United met City at the Etihad in the Premier League, winning 2-1 after Marcus Rashford scored a penalty in the 23rd minute of the match with Anthony Martial doubling the lead six minutes later. A late consolation from Nicolás Otamendi spoiled the party a little with United not keeping a clean sheet. This will be the second Manchester derby this season, with two more to come.

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.