Hull City vs. Manchester United: EFL Cup 2017 Team News, Live Stream and TV Info
Manchester United will look to build on their two-goal lead when they face Hull City in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final at the KCOM Stadium on Thursday.
United won the first leg 2-0 thanks to goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini at Old Trafford. The result is part of the Red Devils' 17-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
By contrast, Hull are still mired in the relegation battle, despite new manager Marco Silva making a positive start to life in charge. The Tigers are still second bottom and two points adrift of safety in the Premier League.
Before a look at the team news, here are the schedule and viewing details for the second leg:
Date: Thursday, January 26
Time: 7:45 p.m. (GMT), 2:45 p.m. (ET).
TV: Sky Sports 1, beIN Sports.
Preview
United manager Jose Mourinho faces a tricky selection policy. His team is on a lengthy unbeaten run, despite often finding goals hard to come by.
The problem showed up during the recent 1-1 draw against Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday. United created a host of chances, but couldn't make the most of their territorial dominance.
Afterwards, Mourinho indicated his side is performing well enough to remain unchanged, per Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News: "You create chances and sometimes we are playing so well and creating chances it is not easy to make changes. It is easy to make changes when you see players not playing well, when you see a team not playing well."
Mourinho picked a strong starting XI for the first leg, with Mata, Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba all involved, per Sky Sports.
However, Stuart Mathieson of the Manchester Evening News has urged the Old Trafford chief to start Marcus Rashford up front in the second leg. The 19-year-old striker needs extended playing time to both accelerate his development and deliver on his undoubted promise.
Mathieson believes United's two-goal lead makes this the perfect opportunity to hand the teenager a rare start: "But now Rashford needs a start to ensure the 2017 progress chart doesn't dip too low."
Rashford boasts the pace to torment a Hull side with little choice but to pour forward and leave spaces behind to be exploited on the counter.
Yet Mourinho may be more concerned with who he chooses at the back—specifically, centre-back Marcos Rojo missed the draw at Stoke through illness but has since returned to training.
Rojo was joined by injury-hit left-back Luke Shaw, according to Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News. Both players could be in line to start if Mourinho opts to rotate defensively.
Hull will be without midfielder Ryan Mason after he suffered a fractured skull following a clash of heads with Chelsea's Gary Cahill on Sunday. Fortunately, the 25-year-old is said to be making "excellent progress," per the Tigers' official site. The club has even asked its supporters to applaud the player in the 25th minute against United, according to the same source.
Mason's absence means Hull will be extra-reliant on the creativity playmaker Robert Snodgrass usually provides. The Scotland international continues to be a transfer target for West Ham United, despite missing out against Chelsea due to injury, per the London Evening Standard's Ken Dyer and Giuseppe Muro.
If Snodgrass isn't fit enough to start, perhaps new signing Lazar Markovic will be involved. The Tigers confirmed their deal to take the 22-year-old on loan from Liverpool on Monday:
Meanwhile, Philip Buckingham of the Hull Daily Mail identified another new signing, former FC Porto man Evandro, as a possible replacement for the influential Snodgrass.
Even with their schemers available, Hull lack the firepower to make up the difference against a United side sure to pick them off on the break.
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
