Chelsea vs Manchester United: Starting lineups and last-minute analysis

Chelsea are going full-strength against Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinals. Jose Mourinho salvaged Marcus Rashford to start up top after illness concerns over the weekend.

Asmir Begovic is sitting in Chelsea’s training room, furiously sending WhatsApp messages to his agent, Eddie Howe, Slaven Bilic, that guy from Shanghai SIPG and anyone else he can find. The world’s greatest back-up goalkeeper is playing backup to Thibaut Courtois in the tournament that had been his up this point.

Antonio Conte is going with a full-out Premier League XI against Manchester United. Willian will start ahead of Pedro, the only minor change from the usual squad. Despite United’s compromised strike force, Conte is going with his more defensive midfield by pairing Nemanja Matic with N’Golo Kante.

Pedro has been as energetic as ever but slightly off his earlier play in recent matches. Still, his pestering pressure would have been valuable against United’s makeshift lineup.

Willian will again look to make the most of his rare opportunity to start. Two of his last three starts were in the FA Cup. He scored against Brentford and had an assist against Wolves. He also scored in Chelsea’s first FA Cup tie against Peterborough. A strong performance against United could rekindle the competition with Pedro to start at left-wing in the Premier League.

As per usual, Michy Batshuayi is in the match day squad as a substitute. He hopes Chelsea secures a commanding lead early in the game so Antonio Conte will give him an 89′ run-out to take a minute or so off the clock.

Former Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata is surprisingly on the bench for today’s cup tie. Mata is United’s second-leading scorer behind the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic. United need his scoring ability, leadership and playmaking more than ever with so many forwards out of tonight’s game. However, Mourinho name Mata as a substitute.

Next: Who is going to Wembley? Predictions for Chelsea vs. Manchester United

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