SOLSKJAER EXPLAINS EIGHT CHANGES TO REDS LINE-UP

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made eight changes to his Manchester United side for Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup clash with Norwich City, following the 3-0 win over Sheffield United in midweek.

From that impressive victory, only captain Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes retain their places for the quarter-final encounter.

The first of those changes comes in goal, with the boss opting to start Sergio Romero in this one. The Argentinian has featured in all four of the Reds’ FA Cup games to date and has kept a clean sheet on all of those occasions.

Ahead of him, it looks like United will start with a four-man defence. Diogo Dalot comes in at right-back for the visitors and the Portuguese youngster is set to play for the first time since football’s resumption last week.

At the heart of the defence, Maguire will partner Eric Bailly, with our no.3 starting just his fifth game of the season after some injury problems. Meanwhile, at left-back, Luke Shaw has been selected from the off, as he has been in our two Premier League games in June.

In midfield, there will be plenty of energy from the industrious duo of Fred and Scott McTominay. The pair were both rested for Wednesday’s win at Old Trafford and will no doubt be hoping to feed our more attack-minded players.

That trio behind the lone striker includes Juan Mata, who has won this competition with United and Chelsea, while Jesse Lingard also returns to the side. Bruno completes that creative trident and our no.18 will be aiming to continue his impressive form.

Up front, Odion Ighalo will lead the line. He netted twice in the last-16 game against Derby County and a few more in Norfolk would help the Reds’ passage to the semi-finals.

Speaking ahead of the game, Ole told MUTV: “There is only one change from the last round and Harry was supposed to play in the last game as well, but he went down with sickness just beforehand.

“This is a team that deserves another chance in the FA Cup as they played well together and did well against Derby. I felt I’d give them another go.

“It’s the beauty of having a good squad, with players in form and players fit,” he added. “We don’t have too many injuries. So there are many to choose from, so I’m looking forward to this game.”

There’s plenty of firepower on the bench if required, with Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood waiting in the wings. So too, is Tim Fosu-Mensah, who could make his first senior United appearance for three years, should he be introduced.

TEAMS:

Norwich: Krul; Aarons, Godfrey, Klose, Lewis; Rupp, Tettey, Cantwell, McLean, Buendia, Pukki.

Subs: McGovern, Vrancic, Leitner, Hernandez, Stiepermann, Trybull, Drmic, Duda, Idah.

United: Romero; Dalot, Bailly, Maguire (C), Shaw; McTominay, Fred; Mata, Fernandes, Lingard; Ighalo.

Subs: De Gea, Fosu-Mensah, Williams, Pogba, Andreas, Matic, Martial, Rashford, Greenwood.