Manchester United take on Hull City tonight in the EFL Cup. Manager Jose Mourinho has already said that the starters who got rest in the 4-0 demolishing of Reading in the FA Cup will be back in the first team against Hull.
The rested Paul Pogba will now be back in the first team and he hopes that the Red Devils “finish” Hull off in this first leg, and thus give United more chance to rest and regroup for the other competitions in a very busy January. (Here’s the link to our United starting XI prediction).
The Tigers are in dead last place in the Premier League table, and thus will be much more concerned with trying to stay up than the EFL Cup. On the flip side, United also are prioritizing the league, making the push for a top four slot, above the EFL Cup (or Europa League, FA Cup for that matter).
Paul Pogba told MUTV: “It’s an important game for us and the second leg will be difficult so let’s try to finish the tie in the first leg.
“It’s a cup semifinal and they’re playing against Man United so they have nothing to lose. They’ll want to take anything that they can as they’re not doing as well as they’d like at this moment. They’ve had a change of manager too and will want to win this game as it’s very important for them.”
The world’s most expensive player went on to articulate all the positive momentum that the club has at the current moment. United have won eight in a row across all competitions, and find themselves undefeated in their last 11; which hasn’t happened at the club since the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
“We’ve been playing very well, but we know how football can go. You can go out there and things can turn straightaway. We need to be focused and, if we keep playing the football we are playing at the moment, then we will be OK,” Paul Pogba said.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
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