Rory Fitzgerald

That Sky studio is presiding over a funeral - its a f**kin' party lads !!

I'd say its more likely. AWB-Jones-Maguire-Lindelof-Telles I reckon you might see AWB/Jones/Maguire on the deck quite alot throwing in last minute lunges and blocks Great to see you paying attention Leo

Yep. If they can add discipline to their game and put up a big defensive performance, they they will be looking to take this game into 70-90mins at 0-0 and try catch us out if we get frustrated. Its a very big if, but otherwise, as you say we will be all over them.

The rumored team on their side is a change of system with Phil Jones coming into a back 5 and Telles missing out to AWB. De Gea AWB Lindelof Maguire Jones Dalot Pogba Matic Fernandes Elanga Rashford

Its the squad that faced Norwich but without Ronaldo. Its slim pickings from the bench.

Who does that leave them with ? Midfield: Pogba Matic Fernandes Attack: Elanga Rashford Lingard Subs: Mata, Sancho and after that its defenders, kids and keeper.

We have 10 games over the next month, so Keita, Thiago, Henderson, Fabinho will see their fair share of rotation so we will see 1 or 2 of Milner/Jones/Ox/Elliott. Though hopefully only 1 at a time. VVD/Matip/Konate rotation is doable. Mane/Firmino/Jota/Salah/Diaz is doable. Full backs - Trent/Gomez and Robertson/Tsimikas is not ideal but you can see it happening at some point.

So cruel, I can't imagine what they are going through

I watched the highlights of their game against Norwich (8min reel) and Norwich had a couple of good chances and moments. Utd looked really poor. Their goals came from; (1) Norwich gifted them the 1st by losing the ball in their area, (2) Ronaldo header at a corner, (3) Ronaldo free kick. 2 of their 3 goals came from set pieces and the open play goal came from a mistake. Whereas the 2 Norwich goals came from open play. Norwich were even trying to chip De Gea from 40 yards

Sky reporting that Bruno Fernandes was involved in a car "crash" this morning but no one was injured and he's expected to train this afternoon. Details are very light at the moment.

There's their squad list and who has been available and playing consistently. Dalot > Wan Bissaka Bailly not playing Mata is starting to get minutes Persistence with Sancho

Thats a good way of looking at it - because if you conclude that you can't do that, then its; - 433 with Matic as the balance in midfield, or - going to a new back 3 formation

He has a big season ahead of him next year. He played 2014-16 in the Premier League as a kid, then the next 3 in the Championship. He came back to the Premier League and - as a 23-25 year old - played some good football and understandable why City wanted him given his style of play. This year has been a bit of a [insert your preference of "finding yourself" or "lost"] season. He will be 27 next season and its a period for him to hit the peak of his career, so next year is a big one.

Yes. Despite winning 0-5 and 1-4 in the corresponding fixture, given they are both battling for something, I'd rather we dont need to deal with an away game. Let our lads hear our support behind them.

Rangnick on Varane - "He’s the one who can hopefully can back for at least one of the next two games against Liverpool or Arsenal. With the others, I don’t see them coming back within the next couple of days" So Utd are possibly adding Varane to that squad list for Tuesday. Rangnick has only played a back 4 this season - I wonder if he'd put Varane into that team (as a 5-3-2) and take out Lingard. Maybe take out Lingard and one of Elanga/Sancho and put in Varane but also Matic, the latter between Fernandes and Pogba as the 3 man midfield.

His selection for the Champions League Final last year said loads - especially when you weigh up the decision between Grealish and Kane in the Summer transfer market. "I decided the decision, to have quality players ....... to have speed, to find the small players, the quality, the brilliant players, inside, in the middle and between the lines. This was the decision."

The defence were very quick with the ball, no one took more than 2 touches in the early part of the game - kept the City players moving. It contrasted to City, who seemed to welcome us onto them and then try to get out.

In terms of emotional & physical investment in a CL QF and FA SF, those last 2 games have ended up being on the low side. In another universe, we scrap to the end in both games to get over the line. City get an extra 24 hours recovery as they play Wednesday, but I hope the recovery of the players is half decent compared to what it might have been. The BBC put up the schedule of games left and given we are in mid April, its insane that we have 10 left which becomes 11 if we get to the CL Final.

Yes, what date do the papers need to be submitted by for him to play on May 14th

Yes, they can let him play. Vieira touched upon it saying that Chelsea have loaned him out in the hope of picking up this kind of experience - and for the player himself its a huge day and part of his development/experience.

I thought there might be something for us in out-swinging corners last week, but I think we only got 1 corner It paid off this week with a clear height mismatch against the players asked to track the runners

Yes. But I wonder if he goes Laporte at LB with Dias/Stones CB. Anyway, I think Walker starts, he wasnt as pessemistic yesterday.

Yeah, its a mentality thing. The narrative is there for Klopp if he wants them to be more aggressive. He can ask certain players to play at a high intensity because he is giving them 60mins (Jota/Firmino - Henderson/Keita). If he wants to exploit City's 'less-than-ideal' week to prepare for this then any fatigue that might come through in the final 15mins largely depends on a high intensity in the 1st half. City wont be fatigued in the 1st half, but we should still ride them hard to see what's left in tank in the final 15mins. Last week I was looking for a steady opening 20mins, this week I am looking for an intensity to the play both on & off the ball. Not reckless, but picking moments. It would be a positive if City's play at the back had to involve Steffen/Ake rather than Ederson/Walker. But I expect their full team to start but there is still a chance to make them play faster than they might otherwise prefer - and all that comes about from the instructions Klopp leaves them with when they leave the dressing room. I'm hoping we start in a way that its fairly obvious what Klopp has said to them.

Guardiola said earlier that the FA Cup is Steffen's competition and he would consider starting him. Do you think he's been told that he is starting ?

I wonder if we start with a high intensity and go with Firmino and Keita as @Dan suggested earlier in the thread. See how City react after their mid-week trip to Madrid if they need to start at high intensity and how Walker/De Bruyne handle a fast start to the game. If there are question marks over the fitness of their 2 players, get them working hard immediately. We benefitted from the key players having a rest whilst the players that played, didn't have a hugely intense game. Whereas City travelled, played their 1st team, had a tough game and some injuries, travelled as well. So the main question mark for the opening 20mins - after what happened last week and now the factors of both teams from midweek - do we start this game and go hunting the ball very high The FA Cup has 5 subs which can help; 1. Firmino <--> Jota 2. Keita <--> Henderson 3. Mane <--> Diaz 4/5 could be Milner for pens and/or defensive, Jones. Not sure if Divock, Minamino are getting on. Ox maybe. Elliott hasnt played in ages though, so cant see him getting on. Kostas and Konate are options too if needed if the game gets to extra time and we need legs at the back. On City's side; They will pick 6 players from these so the remainder are sub options; Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez, Grealish, Gundogan, Fernandinho