Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Confirmed: Solskjaer's FA Cup semi-final team

Sunday 19 July 2020 17:00

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has shuffled his Manchester United pack for the Emirates FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea at Wembley.

The manager has made five changes to the line-up that started Thursday night's 2-0 win at Crystal Palace, as the Reds bid to reach the FA Cup final on 1 August where Arsenal lie in wait after defeating Manchester City 2-0 in the first semi.

Eric Bailly, Brandon Williams, Daniel James, Fred and Nemanja Matic come into the team, in place of Tim Fosu-Mensah, Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial who are all on the bench.


United look set to play a 3-5-2 formation with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly marshalling the backline, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Williams potentially push up as wing-backs.

Matic and Fred will join Bruno Fernandes in midfield, with Daniel James offering support to Marcus Rashford up front.

Speaking about Williams' recovery from the eye injury he sustained six days ago, Ole told MUTV: "Brandon says he is fine. He can see out of it now. There was loads of blood on it so we just had to give him enough time so that his eye functioned enough. He is ready and raring to go."

As for the other line-up changes, the manager commented: "There's a chance for everyone of course. They've been waiting patiently, they've been doing well when they've had a chance, both Fred and Jamo have fresh legs, giving us some of that intensity we need on a very big and draining Wembley pitch."

When asked about Pogba and Martial being named on the bench, Ole added: "They've played a lot of football, so it's about freshening up the team but also giving them the chance to make a difference when they come on."

Ole explains our starting XI v Chelsea Video

Ole explains our starting XI v Chelsea

Watch as the boss reveals his thinking behind the team, our five changes and a huge occasion...

Here's the side selected by Ole and the nine substitutes, of which he can use five - or six if the score is level after 90 minutes and the game goes into extra-time:

United: De Gea; Lindelof, Bailly, Maguire; Wan-Bissaka, Fred, Matic, Williams; Bruno Fernandes; James, Rashford.

Substitutes: Romero, Fosu-Mensah, Andreas, McTominay, Pogba, Mata, Greenwood, Ighalo, Martial.

Meanwhile, Frank Lampard has picked the following line-up:

Chelsea: Caballero; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Giroud, Willian.

Substitutes: Kepa, Christensen, Abraham, Pedro, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic, Tomori, Emerson.

You can follow live updates during the game in our Match Centre on ManUtd.com and in our Official App.

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