Five days after victory in the FA Cup, United take part in another domestic competition as they face Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
A Conor Coady own goal in between strikes from Antony and Marcus Rashford secured a 3-1 win for United over Everton in the FA Cup third round last Friday, with Erik ten Hag's side facing a visit from Reading in the next round of the competition. Attention turns back to the Carabao Cup tonight though, with United playing host to League One side Charlton in the quarter-finals.
A 2-0 win for Ten Hag's side over Burnley in the last round set up the clash with the Addicks at Old Trafford, and a win will send United through to the final four of the competition. Ten Hag is expected to make a handful of changes to his team, while Bruno Fernandes is a guaranteed absentee after accumulating two yellow cards in the last two rounds of the cup, suspending him from tonight's clash.
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We predict that United could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Heaton; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Martinez, Malacia; McTominay, Fred; Elanga, Iqbal, Garnacho; Martial.
We predict that the visitors could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: MacGillivray; Clare, Inniss, Ness, Sessegnon; Morgan, Dobson, Fraser; Rak-Sakyi, Leaburn, Blackett-Taylor.
As expected, Charlton struggled to see much of the ball in the opening stages at Old Trafford, with United controlling every aspect of the game. Anthony Martial and Anthony Elanga were both guilty of missing big chances in the opening 30 minutes, but the hosts did take the lead after 38 minutes through Harry Maguire.
The visitors managed to head a United corner clear, but only as far as Fred outside the box who kickstarted a second attacking phase with a fantastic ball out to Alejandro Garnacho on the left. The winger cut in and found Maguire outside the box, and on his weaker foot, the defender caught Charlton by surprise as he let fly from distance.
His drilled effort took a wicked deflection off the defender's trailing leg, sending the ball into the top corner of the net. The pressure from United continued in the second half, and they were awarded a penalty in the 60th minute to try and double the lead.
Craig MacGillivray charged off his line in an attempt to beat Martial to a loose ball, but the striker got there first and was taken out by the goalkeeper to earn a penalty. Martial stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick, but his effort was well saved by the 'keeper at full stretch to keep the score at 1-0.
Antony, Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford were all introduced to try and confirm the three points for United, with Rashford coming closest as he blazed over the bar from close range. United had plenty of chances across the 90 minutes to extend their lead, but some poor finishing saw Ten Hag's side only score once, winning 1-0 to book their spot in the semi-finals.
FIFA 23 predicted final score: United 1-0 Charlton
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that United could produce another assertive performance, beating Charlton 1-0 to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals. The scoreline failed to reflect the performance, with United's xG in the simulation 2.8, showing how many chances could potentially fall United's way against the Addicks.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
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