EFL Cup Semifinal Preview: Manchester United vs Hull City

Following a convincing 4-0 over Reading at the weekend, Manchester United face Hull City in the first leg of the EFL Cup semifinal.

The Reds march out on Tuesday evening in the knowledge that a win on home soil would extend their winning streak to an impressive nine games in all competitions, bolster morale for the league game against rivals Liverpool on Saturday, and ensure that the return leg of this fixture becomes more of a formality.

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Time: 20:00 GMT
TV: Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 1 HD

Manager Jose Mourinho has come out to say that he has no plans of resting his key players like he did against Reading.

“Today I played with fresh players, the players that didn’t play against West Ham,“ he said following their victory on Saturday. “And the next match against Hull I’m going to play again with fresh players so it’s easy to know our team – it’s Zlatan, it’s Pogba, it’s Herrera, it’s Valencia, the guys who didn’t play today.”

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“Hull face a semi-final, also a big occasion for them, and I don’t know maybe for them, it’s more important the match they have to play three or four days later in the Premier League,” he stated during his pre-game press conference.

“We play against Liverpool, a big match for us, but we want to be in the final…If we can do something in the first leg that gives us the advantage, so we will try to do that.”

Hull City play their second game under new manager Marcos Silva, who took over following the sack of Mike Phelan last week. A 2-0 victory over Swansea City means that they go into this with a major morale boost.

Stats

1 — Number of times Hull City have gotten to this stage of the competition.
3 — Number of times Jose Mourinho has won the league cup, one behind record holder Sir Alex Ferguson.
14 — Number of times Manchester United have gotten to this stage of the competition. They have proceeded to the final eight times.
15 — Number of consecutive games Hull City have scored in, in this competition.

Team News

Manchester United are without Marco Rojo who picked up a knock on Saturday, and Eric Bailly who is off on international duty.

Expected Lineup: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Darmian, Herrera, Fellaini, Pogba, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Ibrahimovic.