Manchester United are set to take on Chelsea in this season’s FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho will be looking for his fourth trophy in two seasons at Old Trafford when he faces his former club who could be managed by Antonio Conte for the final time.
The boss was able to rest most of his key players for the final day of the 2017-18 Premier League season last Sunday in our 1-0 win over Watford with second place already wrapped up, meaning we’re fresh for the big game.
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Here is the team that I think Jose will send out:
Goalkeeper: David de Gea
Despite Sergio Romero starting more domestic cup games than David de Gea this season it will be the Premier League Golden Glove winner that will be between the sticks for us on Saturday.
Defence: Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones
Jose switched to a back three in our win at Old Trafford against Chelsea back in February and I think the boss will revert to that formation again this weekend, as he trialed versus West Ham in our penultimate league game of the season. This means we should see Eric Bailly back in the starting lineup. The Ivorian did start against Watford last weekend but that was his first start in more than a month. Chris Smalling is sure to be recalled and Phil Jones is fit to start as well.
Midfield: Antonio Valencia, Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Ashley Young, Paul Pogba
Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young will be the wingbacks. Valencia in particular will need to be careful in bombing forward as he’ll likely have Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso to deal with defensively. I think Ander Herrera will partner Nemanja Matic as the Spaniard is energetic and tenacious in winning the ball back for us. Matic will be looking to get one over on his former club by protecting our back three well, as he does. Paul Pogba should line up behind the strikers which does mean no start for Jesse Lingard in the final.
Strikers: Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku
Alexis Sanchez played very well in a free role in our win against Chelsea earlier in the season, and after a few quiet games on the left recently I can see the boss giving the Chilean a free role in this game too. Romelu Lukaku was injured or rested for our final two Premier League games of the season but he’ll be fit to start this one and hopefully haunt his former club.
Here is how we line up for the FA Cup final:
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