Round 5 of the Capital One Cup features two monumental clashes as Stoke take on Manchester United and Tottenham face West Ham tonight.
David Moyes’ United outfit travel to the Britannia Stadium on the back of a 4-0 thumping of Norwich in Round 4 and with the side’s manager now beginning to find his feet at the club he will be aiming to take victory against what should be a tricky Stoke opposition.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes has helped his team find form recently with a shock win over Chelsea in recent weeks. Stoke’s path to Round 5 has involved wins over Tranmere and a penalty showdown with Birmingham, so Hughes’s side are battle hardened going into tonight’s match.
A win tonight would mean that Moyes will take United to the semi-finals of the competition since 2010 and certainly go a long way in boosting their confidence after the victories over Aston Villa and Shakhtar Donetsk recently.
Manchester United team news:
As far as team news is concerned, Moyes has no fresh injuries other than the fact that he will miss Robin Van Persie and Javier Hernandez. Midfielder Darren Fletcher who made a substitute appearance last week against Aston Villa, would be hoping for a starting role for the first time in almost a year now.
So here are the possible starting XI for both the teams:
Stoke City: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Palacios, N’Zonzi, Pennant, Ireland, Shea, Jones
Manchester United: Lindegaard, Rafael, Jones, Evans, Fabio, Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Zaha, Rooney, Welbeck
There are also reports from Dailymail that says Teenage midfield sensation Charni Ekangamene is in contention for a Manchester United debut in Capital One Cup tonight. The Central/defensive Midfielder from Belgium has been impressive with the United reserves this season and could break into United’s starting XI. So it will be interesting to see what Moyes’ starting XI will be.
Elsewhere, North London will be the venue for the other of this evening’s match ups, with West Ham travelling to Tottenham in what should be a fierce London derby. Spurs only narrowly edged out Hull City in Round 4 on penalties while West Ham secured their place in the final eight with a 2-0 victory over Burnley.
Get involved in the debate on Twitter using #CapitalOneCup and comment on our live blog (below) to get your opinions heard! Will Stoke City edge Manchester United, or will Moyes’s side prove too strong? Let us know!
