Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo will have to contend with the impressive and in-form Dimitri Payet, who leads all West Ham goal scorers this season.
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Manchester United were left with a huge task for the return leg of their Europa League clash with Liverpool after losing 2-0 at Anfield last night.
The last eight stage will be the first time Manchester United have faced Premier League opposition in the competition this season having been paired with Sheffield United, Derby and Shrewsbury thus far. I hope they will help us go forward and score goals because we need it against Liverpool. “There were a few minutes in the second half where we lost a little bit of control, so we changed the system and again needed a few minutes to adapt to the new system”.
The German’s side outworked and outperformed their north-west rivals for the entirety of Thursday’s first-leg tie as Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino struck in each half to underscore their superiority.
Liverpool beat United 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League tie and if it weren’t for De Gea’s heroics it could have been 5-0.
With West Ham United providing a live and unsafe FA Cup quarter-final opponent tomorrow – indeed, they are one place above United in fifth in the Premier League table – and a trip to Manchester City in the league looming next Sunday, Van Gaal’s players seem to be between a rock and a hard place as they search for the victory which will prolong their competitive interest in this campaign.
“We will be focusing but we’re playing at Old Trafford and we have to win”.
“No matter how you play against Manchester United, it is always hard to make chances”.
“And it is possible that we are going out”.
“Old Trafford is one of the stadiums I adore and I was very disappointed not to play there earlier in the season because of injury”, Payet said.
“We want the game to start, and we are doing everything to reach Wembley”. But this is a sport where you can lose and you can win.
With the Mata suspension, van Gaal will have to do some lineup shuffling within the midfield and on this day the pairing of Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin could feature in front of the back four.
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United certainly appear to have the individuals on paper to triumph, but the poor style and substance display at Anfield – not for the first time this season – raises understandable doubts.
