Manchester United and Chelsea will temporarily leave their battle for the fourth final of the Premier League when they lock the horns in Sunday's semifinal for the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium.
Two of the races in which the most successful teams will meet for the fourth time during the 2019-20 campaign, with United boasting 100 records against the Blues this season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men aspire to to equal Arsenal's record of 13 FA Cup triumphs.
The last time Chelsea recorded a victory against the Red Devils was in the FA Cup final 2017-18 - where Eden harzard's penalty was enough for the Blues to record their eighth triumph in the race two years ago.
Although United and Chelsea are desperate to secure a place in the Champions League with two Premier League games, clubs will turn their attention to Wembley as they fight for supremacy in one of football's most prestigious competitions. Arsenal and Manchester City will face each other in the second semi-final on Saturday, which means they have every chance for all of London or all of Manchester in the final on August 1.
Here, Sports Mole selects its strongest combined XI from the United and Chelsea squads before Sunday's semi-finals, using only players who are expected to be available for the match.
Neither David de Gea nor Kepa Arizabalaga covered in fame between the sticks this season, although the former would have become the top scorer if it was a Premier League match.
However, Argentine compatriots Sergio Romero and Willie Caballero have been heavily involved in the cup competitions and are both expected to go to Wembley this weekend, and the United stopper nodded at his international teammate. The appearance of Reese James on the right of defense was a shining light during the Chelsea season and with Aaron One-Bissaka, occupying the same country for United, England is well preserved when it comes to right-back options for future tournaments.
While James' masterful attack is perhaps more advantageous for the modern full-back, Van Bisaka's stellar defensive qualities are well documented and the United defender makes the cut here.
Solskjaer face a dilemma to select on the opposite side of the defense, but Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams raised injuries in Monday's draw with Southampton, and the pair has doubts about the trip to Wembley. Timothy Fossou-Mensa was a surprising left-back against Crystal Palace, but Cesar Azapilicueta and Chelsea Aloso have proven their worth this season and the former is included in our squad.
Harry Maguire still has his doubts, but the £80million central defender has been a direct member of the squad, and his partnership with Victor Lindelof has kept Chelsea defenders Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zuma, Andreas Christensen and Fikaio Tomori out.
In the middle of the park, Paul Pogba rushed back to the United midfield, never leaving, and the Frenchman was key to United's rise in late form. As a result, it was impossible to keep the 27-year-old out of the team, although Pogba's midfield partner was a more difficult decision. If N'Golo Kante stayed in shape and enjoyed a consistent run in the Chelsea term, the French international would join the team along with his fellow World Cup winner. Jorgenjo has also been on and off the side of Frank Lampard lately, but Mateo Kovacic has established himself as a top midfielder of the "blues" and enters our selection, but Nemanja Matic is also a worthy contender.
Given their prolific goal-scoring form over the past few weeks, it's no surprise to see the Red Devils dominate the final third of the field on our team. Bruno Fernandez has not been a revelation for United since arriving in January and has scored seven goals and seven assists in 12 Premier League games - including four goals and four assists in his last five.
As a result, the Portuguese playmaker was an easy choice to like Mason Mount, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Ross Barkley as an attacking midfielder, and Fernandez is supported by Willian on the right - the only Chelsea striker in our squad.
Mason Greenwood was an obvious choice for this team given the teenager's remarkable performances after returning to football, but it remains to be seen whether Solskjaer will decide to rest the 18-year-old for this tie, especially considering he was in the end of accepting horror in Southampton's game.
Greenwood managed to score four goals and one assist after the restart, while Willian, despite all the speculation about his next move in his career, has scored four goals and three by giving up and is included in our selection. Marcus Rashford also seems to be finding his feet again and packing his 17th Premier League goal of the season against Crystal Palace, so the United striker occupies the left side of the midfield as opposed to Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, although the American also enjoyed a decent run after the restart.
At the forefront of the attack Anthony Martial continues to go from strength to strength and now has 22 goals for the season in all competitions. Chelsea's Tammy Abraham hit the ground at the start of the season, but the Englishman often sees the function of Olivier Giroud from the opening whistle in front of him lately, which means that Martial occupies the final place in our selection.
Which of the above selection of you think can beat any team in the English Premier League, let's share our thoughts about it.
Content created and supplied by: PoliticalPundit (via Opera News )
COMMENTS