Manchester United’s season should not get any weirder with defeat at Shrewsbury, Manuel Pellegrini may benefit from turning to his youth players, Emmanuel Emenike should get his chance and replays should stay
1)Could City use their academy players?
Manchester City have made no attempt to hide their annoyance that their tie against Chelsea is being played on Sunday, three days before they visit Dynamo Kyiv for the first leg of their Champions League tie, and Manuel Pellegrini could be forced to select a weakened side at Stamford Bridge. With City’s season in danger of unravelling after consecutive home defeats against Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the last thing the Chilean will want to see in west London is the familiar sight of Sergio Agüero pulling up and clutching his hamstring before looking towards the bench with a wince and shaking his head. Pellegrini’s hope of winning at least one more trophy before Pep Guardiola steps in is surely dependent on Agüero staying free of injuries. Yet while it makes sense to rest players against Chelsea, City’s options are limited by injuries to Fabian Delph, Kevin de Bruyne, Samir Nasri, Jésus Navas and Bacary Sagna, plus doubts over the involvement of Wilfried Bony and Eliaquim Mangala. There is only so much shuffling they can do before they run out of cards. That could make for a less than wholehearted display, but perhaps Pellegrini could show some bravery and place his trust in youth. Kelechi Iheanacho has led the way for City’s academy with some admirable performances off the bench this season and as Liverpool’s youngsters demonstrated over the course of two matches against West Ham in the fourth round, it is wrong to underestimate the capacity of young players to surprise you when they are given a chance.
2)Salutes for Adebayor?
Tottenham fans could be excused if they approach this Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace haunted by images of Emmanuel Adebayor’s pitch-long celebratory sprint after he scored, for Manchester City, his first goal against his former club Arsenal in 2009. There can be little doubt that Adebayor would enthusiastically celebrate any goal scored against his latest former employers, for whom he managed just 46 minutes of league football in his last 10 months, culminating in his being released on full pay last September. Spurs continue to contribute £35,000 towards his weekly wage – as much as they are paying Harry Kane – but having ended his time at the club training with the youth team, gratitude is presumably pretty low down the list of Adebayor’s feelings towards Tottenham. “It wasn’t a good relationship with the chairman Daniel Levy as he made everything complicated,” Adebayor said this week (though he insisted his relationship with Mauricio Pochettino was, by contrast, “beautiful”). Nearly two years since his memorable love-in with Tim Sherwood, the only salutes anyone at Spurs is likely to be receiving from Adebayor on Saturday are of the two-fingered variety. On the plus side, with Spurs at home, the Togolese striker won’t have to run very far in search of some fans to taunt if he provides a reminder of his goalscoring qualities
3)It’s been a strange season for United … but not that strange
Manchester United have coped comfortably with lower league opponents so far in the FA Cup this season – Derby County were dispatched 3-1 in round four and though Sheffield United were dogged in the third round Louis van Gaal’s side were never in danger of losing that game – and with Shrewsbury representing the weakest challenge yet (in theory at least) this should be relatively routine. Van Gaal was in interesting form before United’s Europa League game at Midtjylland. “My personal wish is to win the FA Cup. I have already won the Uefa Cup and I want to win a title in England,” he said. “That is why I have come to this country, to make Manchester United champions or give them a title [in England], but I understand – for Manchester United it is much more important to win the Europa League because it will give us the Champions League.” It’s unusual to hear a manager pointing out that his personal goals are different to those of his club, but then it’s been an unusual season at Old Trafford. Given that United have been knocked out of the FA Cup by lower-league opposition only once since 1984, defeat at New Meadow on Monday would be the most unusual of all – Shrewsbury’s home form has been appalling.
4)Everton look to avoid Bournemouth repeat
“We didn’t take advantage of our two-goal lead,” Roberto Martínez says, a quote that most reporters who cover Everton presumably have on file. Martínez was talking about the day when his players seemed intent on parodying their inability to hold on to a lead, drawing 3-3 at Bournemouth back in November despite leading 2-0 at half-time, and 3-2 deep into stoppage time, before allowing Junior Stanislas to score a 98th minute equaliser and leaving their supporters with the sense that nothing is guaranteed even if when their team is 5-0 up and the referee is about to blow the final whistle. They were at it again last month, drawing 3-3 at Chelsea in similar circumstances and relinquishing a 3-1 aggregate lead in their Capital One Cup semi-final against City, and it is not hard to find Evertonians who are less than pleased with Martínez’s lack of pragmatism. Consistency remains out of reach for Everton, who are back at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday evening, and although they recently enjoyed three 3-0 victories in the space of a week, their momentum was halted by last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to West Brom at Goodison Park, a reminder that a highly talented squad will achieve nothing of any note until they develop greater resilience and powers of concentration.
5)Emenike gets his chance
Slaven Bilic has rarely been able to choose from a full-strength squad this season and West Ham United’s injury problems have flared up again, leaving them depleted up front before Sunday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers. There was no need to reach for the smelling salts after it emerged that Andy Carroll has been ruled out with a groin injury, while Enner Valencia has a knock, Diafra Sakho is not expected to return from the the thigh injury that has kept him out since November until Sam Allardyce returns to Upton Park with Sunderland next weekend and Nikica Jelavic has become the latest striking sensation to sign up for the Chinese adventure, moving to Beijing Renhe earlier this week. It means that Bilic is likely to hand a first start to Emmanuel Emenike, the Nigerian international who joined on loan from Fenerbahce last month. Having spent part of the season on loan at Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates, Emenike looked rusty in front of goal during brief cameos against Norwich City and Southampton, but the 28-year-old will surely fancy his chances of opening his West Ham account against the side who are 18th in the Championship
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