Manchester United’s Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (C) substitutes Manchester United’s English midfielder Jesse Lingard during the UEFA Europa League last 16 second leg football match between Manchester United and Linzer ASK at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on August 5, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Man United to make changes ahead of Europa quarterfinal clash
Man United are playing at home to FC Copenhagen in the first leg of their Uefa Europa League quarterfinal tie on Monday.
Manchester United’s Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (C) substitutes Manchester United’s English midfielder Jesse Lingard during the UEFA Europa League last 16 second leg football match between Manchester United and Linzer ASK at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on August 5, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted on a few changes as his side look to gain an early upper hand against FC Copenhagen in their Europa League quarterfinal at home on Monday.
The Red Devils eased past LASK Linz in the previous round, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the week to breeze through to the last eight with a 7-1 aggregate win.
Danish test for Man United
They next face the Danes, who had to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Round of 16, eventually running off 3-0 victors at home to make the quarterfinals. The match will be played on neutral ground in Cologne
United, who had an impressive run in the latter stages of the half, have mostly employed done so with minimal changes to their starting line-up.
Featuring in each minute of their league campaign is skipper Harry Maguire, who was in the starting XI against the Austrians this week.
Solskjaer said the 27-year-old was desperate to feature once more.
“There’s a reason why he’s the captain: he always wants to play, but he’s always ready to play. He’s missed one game, two games this season maybe through some illness, and I think he just gets sharper and sharper the more he plays. He’ll get his time off after this tournament, so no worries about that.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The walking wounded
The United defence is, however, a few names short, with key players still battling injury.
One of those is left-back Luke Shaw, who has had his spot shared by Brandon Williams and Timothy Fosu-Mensah in recent weeks, as well as Axel Tuanzebe, who has not featured since the restart.
Solskjaer did indicate that defender Phil Jones was on the mend, and could be in among the travelling squad that is heading to Germany on the weekend.
