Manchester United have started their game against struggling Norwich City which is a decisive FA Cup quarter-final tie.
The Reds go into the game boasting a 13-game unbeaten run and will be looking to extend that to 14 games despite manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making eight starting changes.
United will be looking to replicate their start against Sheffield United with an early goal forcing The Canaries to open up and fire back at United, something which would undoubtedly benefit the Reds.
One area to watch will be United’s right sided attack with Diogo Dalot coming in for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Scott McTominay also starts at the heart of United’s midfield and I expect we’re likely to see the Scotsman drop deeper when United are transitioning from defence to attack allowing the back-line to form a central back-three.
This simple tweak in shape will allow the explosive Dalot to bomb-on forward down the right flank and look for the overlap with Juan Mata and the same with Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes who is known for his characteristic ‘number 10’ role is often disassociated with the infamous European ‘Mezzala’ role he deploys during periods of games. The Portuguese attacker will often drop into the half-wide spaces acting as both a winger and a creative midfielder, with this role well within his capabilities, do not be surprised if we see both Portuguese players link-up on the right wing seamlessly throughout this FA Cup tie.
I also fully expect Mata and Fernandes to inter-change positionally which will create wide openings for the on-rushing Dalot to exploit.
The Reds are set to kick-off at 17:30 and will be desperate to book themselves a place in the Cup’s Semi Finals in a game which must have a winner decided tonight.
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