Man Utd squad man to step up at Wolves; Liverpool must rest stars

One Manchester United fan tips a surprise star to be a game-changer against Wolves, while Chelsea and Liverpool supporters wonder how their lineups will change after a gruelling Super Cup final – all in Your Says of the Day.

Join in the debate here…

Will Man Utd regret missing out on Fernandes?

Apparently most top clubs were hesitant going for him. Same with Pepe, Bayern looked at him intensively, considering they were after replacements for Ribery and Robben, they went against him because apparently he needs a lot of space to be effective as a winger and struggles when being closed down.

Only time will tell if that is the case.

CM

a goal and assist machine in Portugal, yes but it’s difficult to tell if that would have been the case in England. I don’t think we were even that interested in him, tbh as it smells of his agent angling for a move or an improved contract.

It was frustrating not to see us strengthen the midfield but I guess we are stuck with what we’ve got for now.

roygbiv

It’s not a case of being no worse than the others, but surely a case of being no better.

I’d have been happy to take a punt on him, but I think we need a top class holding player more.

There’s a reason no one has brought him, same as Carvalho. Maybe it’s the price, maybe people think he is not quite there yet, but arguing we should spend £70m on a player who is no worse than what we have seems a tad strange. Not quite the salesman!

Alfie07

Also read up that Fernandea plays as a number 10 or behind the main striker for sporting. That’s where most of his goals and assists come from. With Ole deploying a 4-3-3 and Pogba being the man given the free role, it is understandable why we didn’t go for Fernandes and why many other sides didn’t go for him too. Fernandes is ineffective in a midfield 2 or sitting deeper as proven for Portugal. Like Alfie has mentioned, the club were most likely looking at a holding midfielder rather than a box to box or attacking midfielder.

CM

Mata to be key against Wolves

These are the types of games we need to win if we have any hope of top 4. I fancy us to do better away from home with a better defense. Can see it being a tight game with us edging it 2-1

N1xer

This will be a tricky tie regardless of how much we’ve improved or haven’t improved as the case may be. Although I hate to say it, it’s made for Mata to sit in behind the striker as a proper No. 10. They’re not an overly physical side so he should do ok and he’ll have that bit of guile we need to unlock a deep defence that none of our other midfielders, bar maybe Pogba, have. I’ll go with a hard fought 2-1 victory to United. Goal in the last 10 mins to win it.

killyboye

Chance for Chelsea to rotate

Pedro played every minute so far, wouldnt be suprised to see him on the bench, with Mount in his place.

I was happy to see Alonso very animated on the bench last night and behind the team, given emerson has also played every minute I would be happy for Alonso to be given a start too.

Cant wait for this game. I really hope we get a good performance and Lampard gets his first 3 points in his first game at the bridge.

Luckydestiny

I think Willian and Pulisic will start. We play at home. We need creativity. We need to play with 2 wingers. Or if not with 2 strikers. Is Bats still with us or has he left on-loan? I think that playing with diamond midfield + 2 strikers supported by Alonso and Azpi on the flanks may help us to dominate the midfield against Leicester. We have both Barkley and Mount fresh. Kante should be raring to go again too after missing almost all pre season. I would love to see Tomori being given a rare start. I have feeling this lad is pretty good

aindro

If we show the spirit we have shown last night. then we have a very good chance of collecting all 3 points. the way we have pressed Liverpool and the number of chances that we have created. i would keep the same team that faced Liverpool.

Chelsea.man

Frank and Jody’s first home game on their return to the Bridge it will be emotional. The Bridge will be buzzing.

Hopefully it inspires rather than detracts it would have been a tough game v Leicester anyway without having to cope with the rigours of Istanbul and the travelling. Fingers crossed for 3 points.

nine nine nine

Fitness concerns for Liverpool after Super Cup

That 120 minutes really won’t help going into this game. Southampton are a really energetic side. We might see Henderson in the #6 after Fabinho’s cramp. I don’t think Salah will start after playing the full game. I think we’ll have to rotate and will set up something like this:

Adrian, TAA, Lovren, VVD, Robertson, Ox, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Origi, Mane, Firmino

Razor

There’s a few players that played a lot of mins last night with very little time for recovery. They will need to be managed.
A lot depends on the fitness of the likes of Shaq and Kieta.
Possibly a starting XI of…
Adrian
TAA, Matip, Lovren, Robbo
Milner, Fab, Gini
Shaq, Firmino, Mane

We could still have Hendo, Salah, Origi, Gomez etc on the bench.

Lovren is seemingly on his way out. If he does go he would be the 3rd senior player to leave the squad from last year without a single senior player brought in.

gingerlfc

This will be a tough game, but no reason why we cannot win it.

But in order to do so, we have to utilise the flexibility of our squad to the fullest. Thus I’d rest most of the players who played the whole 120 min yesterday.

Thus a lineup of our usual defence with Gini, Milner and Ox in midfield, plus Shaqiri, Firmino and Mane in attack – none of these 6 players played the whole 120 min. With strategic substitutions from the likes of Origi, Salah, Fabinho or Henderson.

Focus needs to be at the highest levels to get the 3 points

Songman