Can has been a key player in Klopps starting line-up and has played the majority of his games in midfield.
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Ahead of the match, Van Gaal is optimistic about the situation at Old Trafford, he said: “There is of course much pressure on us now, but it is also possible (that we win) against West Ham”. You have to concentrate on performances and I feel in the last few weeks performances have been good and results follow.
“We don’t have to criticise the referee because he didn’t decide the game but for the whole tournament it is hard”.
Williams, who played for United Under-21s at Liverpool on Friday night, has been a mainstay of the development squad this season and was expected by many observers to have been promoted earlier to the senior squad.
“We have built some momentum and confidence and hopefully we can continue that until the end of the season”.
“But it would be unsafe, suicidal, if we approach the game like “they are playing badly, we are playing well, and we are going to cruise it”. It’s going to be very hard but are we confident? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round’s Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.
The two sides will now lock horns in the second leg of the last-16 on March 18.
Louis van Gaal’s reputation has managed to keep him in the hot seat at Old Trafford for far longer than predecessor David Moyes.
“They will be right up for it and they will have nothing to lose”.
United have conceded only once in their three previous FA Cup games this campaign.
European football’s governing body has confirmed to Omnisport that any potential disciplinary investigations resulting from the match are likely to be announced on Monday, with Marouane Fellaini also possibly facing retrospective action for a physical clash with Emre Can that went unnoticed by officials.
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“They should be competing with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich (in the Champions League)”. “We created a lot of chances, we scored two goals and kept a clean sheet so we’re happy”.
