In the words of singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, “he went to Paris, looking for answers, to questions that bothered him so.” The lyrics may apply to Manchester United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as he struggles with an injury crisis and the massive selection headache it poses for him in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League knockout round clash at Paris Saint-Germain.
Solskjaer will be without the services of nine injured players, plus the suspended Paul Pogba. Still, you got to admire the spirit and resolve he’s showing in spite of very long odds. He’s saying all the right things- proclaiming that United will not go down without a fight.
United defender Ashley Young is defying the conventional wisdom held by the odds makers and experts.
“We know what we’re capable of,” the Englishman said.
“People can write us off. People were writing us off at the start of the season and people are writing us off now. It’s no different. Obviously it’s going to be tough. It’s not going to be easy.”
“We’ve got to go over there, win the game and score goals. I’ve got every faith if we defend well and if we create the chances that I know we can do, we can win the game.
“We’ve got to go out there and win the game. We can’t worry too much about them, it’s all about us.”
The Bank MUFC Starting XI Prediction at PSG (4-3-3)
Attack: Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku, Diogo Dalot
Midfielders: Scott McTominay, Fred, Andreas Pereira
Defenders: Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young
Goalkeeper: David de Gea
Paris Saint-Germain at Manchester United UCL FYIs (PSG Leads 2-0 on Aggregate)
Kickoff: Wednesday, March 6, 8pm, Parc Des Princes
Injury Report for both sides: go to this link
Google Result Probability: PSG win 64%, Draw 21%, Man United win 15%
Odds to qualify for UCL quarter-finals via Betfair: United 16/1, Paris Saint-Germain 1/200
Team news and notes: go to this link
Prediction: PSG 1, United 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.