United are on the brink of a trip to Wembley as David Moyes’ side prepare for a trip to Sunderland in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-finals on Tuesday evening.
Quick turnaround The Reds won’t have long to prepare for this fixture, with the FA Cup clash with Swansea having taken place as recently as Sunday. While the lack of rest time is not ideal, it does at least come shortly after the hectic festive period, and the players will have been in a similar situation not too long ago. Sunderland are in the same boat, with Gus Poyet’s men going into the game on the back of a 3-1 win over Carlisle, also on Sunday.
Joy for Januzaj When the two teams met at the Stadium of Light in October it was a landmark occasion for Adnan Januzaj. The young winger scored twice to help United come back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and announce himself to the world. Since then he has been a regular in the matchday squad and he will be hoping for another happy trip to the North East on Tuesday.
Upper hand The Reds have won the last six matches against Sunderland and have not suffered defeat to the Mackems since November 2000, a run of 20 games in all competitions. In the last eight meetings United have conceded just twice, emerging victorious on both occasions, and Moyes will be hoping for more of the same to book a place in March’s final.
Hotshot Hernandez Javier Hernandez has a fine record in the League Cup, with five goals in only eight appearances, including three in the current campaign. Chicharito also found the net in the 2-1 defeat to Swansea on Sunday and few would bet against the Mexican scoring again on Tuesday. He has only played once at the Stadium of Light before and will be keen to break his duck against Poyet’s side.
Fine away form United have not lost on the road since defeat to Manchester City all the way back in September, winning seven and drawing four of 11 away fixtures since then. Moyes knows that another good performance could help to kill off the tie before the second leg at Old Trafford on 22 January and in the process all but seal a first League Cup final appearance since winning the competition in 2010.
What are you looking forward to seeing against Sunderland?
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