The manager of Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is determined to start winning titles for Manchester United by winning this season’s EFL Cup, also known as Carabao Cup. He boasted ahead of United’s Carabao Cup semi-final match against Manchester City that his players have rested enough for the match.
The last time Manchester United played a competitive match was on Friday, January 1, 2021. It was a league match against Aston Villa which ended 2-1 in favor of United. Since then, the players have been training ahead of their next match which comes up against City on Wednesday at 20:45.
This is the third time Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be leading Manchester United to a semi-final since he became the head coach of the club in 2018. In the last two semi-final matches (Europa League and FA Cup), he failed to go past Sevilla and Chelsea respectively.
This time around, the coach had insisted that his team does not have any excuse not to win the Carabao Cup. He stressed that his team has grown enough to start winning titles.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went on to note that all his players are fit and available for the Manchester United vs Manchester City Carabao Cup semi-final, except Phil Jones who has been out with a long term injury, and Edison Cavani who is currently serving a ban for his racially discriminatory Instagram post.
If Manchester United win their match against Manchester City, United will face either Tottenham Hotspur or Brentford in the final of the competition. If that happens, it means that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his boys have broken the jinx of not making it to the final of major competitions.
Their form so far in the Premier League especially in their last 8 games, showed that the current setup of Manchester United is ready to do the unthinkable this season.
“You have two teams who want to get to the final, we’ve had four days [rest] now after Villa so hopefully we’ve got more fresh legs,” Solskjaer said ahead of the visit of Manchester United to Old Trafford.
“It’s a difficult season but we’ll benefit from rotations made, that’s going to be important with having fresh legs.
“We’re disappointed at not having Edinson involved. He’s probably the only one that’s not [available], and, of course, Phil Jones, who has been out for a long time.
“They’re the only two that are not available for selection, which is a good position to be in.”
The Carabao Cup semi-final matches for this season will kick off with Tottenham Hotspur hosting Brentford today, January 5, at 20:45. That of Manchester United vs Manchester City will come up tomorrow, January 6, at 20:45.
🗣️ Ole: "The next game is always important but a semi-final is a chance to get to the finals and get your hands on a trophy.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 5, 2021
"You play football to win trophies. It gives you the hunger to win more. The squad is focused and we’re ready to give it a go." 🏆#MUFC #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/KTM1M3oknk
