(Updated: 7:21 GMT- The Express did get it right! The tweet from the official account with the starting XI is embedded below)
In about an hour we’ll have official confirmation via Manchester United on who will be in the first team to face FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League competition tonight, but the Daily Express claims to have gotten the starting lineup a few hours ahead of time.
Here’s the first XI selected by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tonight for the home leg of the UCL quarterfinal tie, via the Express: David de Gea, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Scott McTominay, Fred, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford.
? Your #MUFC team to face Barcelona ? #UCL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 10, 2019
For what it’s worth, here are the starting XI predictions that this outlet published for this match on Monday: FC Barcelona Manchester United.
Interesting to see Fred got the nod here, joining McTominay and Dalot as bench players getting a rare first team chance. It must mean that typical first choice midfielders Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic are out injured. Obviously, Rashford must be fully fit while Jesse Lingard was surprisingly dropped.
Barca are substantially favored in this match, but remember that so were PSG in the second leg of the last round. This team also bears some resemblance to the one Solskjaer fielded in Paris, and we all remember how that ended up.
A couple of keys to this match: both Barca boss Ernesto Valverde and central defender Gerard Pique have expressed concern with United’s size, strength, height and prowess on the counter attack. It will be interesting to see what the Catalan club does in preparation to their concerns.
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.