Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was very miffed about his opponent, Chelsea FC, having extra time to prep for tomorrow’s FA Cup semifinal at Wembley Stadium.
“There is a concern, obviously, that they will have had 48 hours’ more rest and recovery than us,” Solskjaer said at his virtual news conference ahead of the win over Crystal Palace.
“It’s not fair. We spoke about a fair scheduling going into this restart and of course it isn’t. But I have to think about Thursday [against Crystal Palace], winning that one, focusing on that one, and then pick up the pieces after that.”
The topic came up again closer to the weekend, where the Norwegian had a softer stance on the issue.
“It’s not going to be a problem and a concern for us but 24 hours, 48 hours is a big difference at this time so we’ve not been handed four Aces, to put it that way, for the last two weeks.
“But we’re going to have to put on a Poker face and play the cards well.
“It almost always boils down to the last couple of weeks at Man United. A couple of times you’re maybe already secure in winning the league or a safe position but it comes down to Cup finals, comes down to the last game of the season to either be a champion.
“So it’s just a great challenge for [the players] to have that feeling representing this great club and knowing that they trust us to be a part of the team going for important positions.”
Not to mention you also have the mini war of words between the two managers providing added spice to this match-up. That all said, let’s take a look at who OGS might select for his first team in this one.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction (4-2-3-1) vs Chelsea (FA Cup Semifinal)
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Fosu-Mensah; Pogba, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial.
Manchester United vs Chelsea FA Cup Semifinal FYIs
Kickoff: Sun July 19, 6pm, Wembley Stadium
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: Chelsea
TV: BBC 1
Odds: Chelsea win 6/4 Man United win 5/7
Prediction United 3, Chelsea 2
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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