Having beaten them 2-1 in extremely entertaining fashion on their own stomping ground at the weekend, United take on West Ham once again tomorrow night as both sides open their Carabao Cup campaigns at the third round stage. Neither side had to participate in the second round given their successes in the Premier League last term, making this a somewhat unfortunately tough tie for both sides.
Lots of changes should be expected for both sides tomorrow as the Hammers venture north, with rests a necessity for players within both squads given regular midweek European involvement at the moment. Solskjaer has revealed that Phil Jones is set to be included in the matchday squad, with the centre back hoping to make his first appearance since January 2020 against Tranmere Rovers. After the weekend fixture against the Hammers, it was revealed that scorer of the winning goal Jesse Lingard will start the match. Following their own respective spells on the sidelines, it’s also a definite that Alex Telles and Anthony Elanga will be amongst the squad.
Dean Henderson has been playing within an under-23 side consisting of Jones recently, but there have been no hints of involvement for him tomorrow after his lengthy recovery time following a bad bout of Covid. Edinson Cavani was tipped to be involved by the boss last week as the first cup competition commencing, with Marcus Rashford and Amad now seemingly the only absentees. Scott McTominay played the entirety of the weekend victory after his minor groin procedure.
For West Ham, Michail Antonio is poised for a return after missing the weekend fixture due to suspension; Jared Bowen majorly deputised the absent striker through the middle for David Moyes' side on Sunday.
United are five time winners of the League Cup under its various names, most recently in the 2016/17 season. The reds have reached the semi-finals in the past two seasons, but have fallen short to City on both occasions. The blue side of the city are now on a run of four successive successes in the competition, the only victors since United's most recent win.
West Ham reached the quarter-finals in both the 2016/17 and 2017/18 campaigns, but have failed to progress beyond the fourth round in each of their last three attempts. They lost to Spurs in the fourth round in the 2018/19 season, defeated by Oxford United in the third round the season after. Everton knocked West Ham out in the fourth round last season, with United later beating the Toffees at the quarter-final stage.
It might be viewed as a less significant tournament, but any silverware would be more than acceptable given the current drought.
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