please log in to view this image Sunday 13th January 4.30pm Premier League Wembley Stadium It's half-time in the League Cup semi-final and we're ahead, but there's no time to rest and enjoy it. Another big game comes quickly on the back of the last, as our congested schedule continues. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a bright start to his run as Man Utd manager. Can the former impact player do it for 90 minutes as a coach at the highest level? Will the super-sub become the new Special One at Old Trafford or will his number come up on the board? Salford's finest haven't had the most inspiring start to the season. Mixed results and flat, dull football finally caught up with Jose Mourinho and he departed in December. That many Utd fans saw this as an early Christmas is a clear indictment of his time with the club. The instant impact of his caretaker replacement has also tarnished his reputation. They look a different team since their painful loss at Anfield. Beating Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Reading may be expected from a Man Utd side. It's definitely raised spirits and expectations with the support though, as has the nature of those victories. Scoring five goals in a match for the first time since Ferguson retired was a statement. Following that up with consecutive wins and playing on the front foot was another. This is being viewed as a real opportunity to make a third. Can Solskjaer make the job his own? It's not the Norwegian's first match in charge against Spurs away. His doomed run as Cardiff manager involved a visit to White Hart Lane in March of 2014. Tim Sherwood sat on the opposite bench, probably wearing a gilet, as Roberto Soldado grabbed the win. A solitary goal in the first half was all that divided the sides. Will it be enough this time? The equivalent game in the last campaign was memorable and started with a bang. Christian Eriksen's goal after 11 seconds set the tone and shocked the visitors. A Phil Jones own goal later in the half seemed to complete effect, as they rarely threatened after that. The second half was pretty comfortable, as we spurned a couple of opportunities to extend the lead: The visit to Old Trafford earlier this season was something of a game of two halves. Mourinho picked a surprise selection from the start and it appeared to catch us out, at first. A tactical switch at half-time, after a goalless first period, changed it all entirely, though. Harry Kane headed us into the lead from a corner, after a spell of strong pressure from the kick-off. Lucas Moura netted a brace to kill off any thoughts of a comeback and to complete a fantastic result: No injury news yet, but there were encouraging signs for some of our missing numbers before the last game. Rojo and Smalling will probably miss out for the visitors, while Pogba may return after missing the FA Cup match. Eric Bailly completes the third match of his suspension and will be absent. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Rose; Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Alli; Kane, Son. Subs: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Foyth, Davies, Skipp, Moura, Llorente. League form: WWWWLW. Man Utd: De Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Jones, Shaw; Herrera, Matic; Mata, Pogba, Martial; Rashford. Subs: Romero, Darmian, Young, Fred, Sanchez, Lingard, Lukaku. League form: WLWWWW. Referee: Mike Dean. TV: Sky Sports. How many changes should we make from the victory over Chelsea on Tuesday? Does anyone look particularly exhausted or have any of the youngsters done enough to start? How should we adjust to the new style of football on offer from Soslkjaer's side?
Six games away to Spurs without a win doesn't bode well for Utd (D3 L3). It's our defence which bothers me. These five wins under Solskjaer have been where the team has had 70% possession. Attack has been the best form of defence. It's a different game with 50% or less. Your lack of control of the ball in midfield v Chelsea encourages me though. If you allow Utd to have as much of the ball in your half, I think we can hurt you more than Chelsea. But I think we need to contain you for the first half hour to have any chance. Overall, I think this may be the game that brings us back down to earth.
Rumours that Dier could feature, fantastic if true. Don’t want him starting but getting him back in the mix before Chelsea would be great. Hugo/ Gazza Aurier, Toby, Dave, Davies/ Rose Sissoko, Eriksen Lamela, Alli, Son Kane Gazza can’t stop impressing me and I really wouldn’t be against seeing him given a run now. Rose has looked like he’s getting back to his best lately and if he’s able to play two in a row I’d happily see him start.
As I have long been saying, 2 of the 3 CM/DM starting XI match fit by Feb, and we are ready to go for the business end of the season.
As I have said before with all our injuries and playing every game away from home we have had a fantastic season so far and you have to praise everyone at the club for that
This is where I see our supposed title challenge end and our fight for 2 places out of 4 for a top four place begins.
So another big day at the office, with the : - Pressure = restore the points gap to the Poool and Chelsky - Incentive = 10 pt gap to PL 5th
Bit worried about this one, United will line up with a lot of pace and movement up front and we don't have a huge amount of solidity in midfield to back up our defence, which admittedly is solid enough. On the flip side we will probably be in a similar position going forwards, I don't think much of United's midfield options to stop us, and their defence looks leaky and hasn't been tested under Solskjaer to the extent it should be today. Skipp might help us control the game more than Winks would and let us dictate the tempo. I think there will certainly be goals in what is a really important match for us.
