Team News

• Wayne Rooney is Doubtful
• Carrick has ankle knock and will probably be on bench for the game
• Gary Neville and Rafael da Silva both return to the squad. Neville likely to start

Fergie has said that he’s going to be making changes from Porto game,

When I pick my team, no matter what it is, there will be critics voicing a concern about me not playing my strongest team,

Could Macheda get his first start?

Last Five Results

• FC Porto 0 – 1 Man Utd
• Sunderland 1 – 2 Man Utd
• Man Utd 2 – 2 FC Porto
• Man Utd 3 – 2 Aston Villa
• Fulham 2 – 0 Man Utd

Misc Info:

1. United will be competing in their 26th FA Cup Semi Final, which is he joint equal record with Arsenal.
2. Hold the record for most times in final (19) and most wins (11)
3. Scored 4 goals in the last two legs of the FA Cup (0-4 against Fulham and 1-4 against Derby)

My Key Man

Rio Ferdinand

Everton Info

Team News

• Saha is doubt (surprised?!) due to illness
• Jo is cup tied
• Joseph Yobo and James Vaughan both back from injury and expected to be in squad

Last Five Results

• Aston Villa 3 – 3 Everton
• Everton 4 – 0 Wigan
• Portsmouth 2 – 1 Everton
• Everton 3 – 1 Stoke
• Everton 2 – 1 Middlesbrough

Misc Info:

1. This will be the first time Everton have played at new Wembley
2. This will be their 24th FA Cup Semi Final – 2 behind United

My Key Man

Tim Cahill

Stats

Last Five Games Against Each other

• Man Utd 1 – 0 Everton (31.01.09) (League)
• Everton 1 – 1 Man Utd (25.10.08) (League)
• Man Utd 2 – 1 Everton (23.13.07) (League)
• Everton 0 – 1 Man Utd (15.09.07) (League)
• Everton 2 – 4 Man Utd (28.04.07) (League)

Misc Info:

• United have won the FA Cup 11 times to Everton’s 5
• In the last four years the team that has knocked out Middlesbrough have reached the final but lost every time. Everton beat Middlesbrough in the quarter-final. If this was to hold true this season Everton will beat United but lose in the final.
• Have played each other 10 times in FA Cup Competition United winning 5 Everton winning 5

My Prediction

Man Utd 2 – 1 Everton

Also Wes Brown is set to make a return to action, after being out since November, playing in the reserve match against Preston on Monday.

Fergie did admit that he was trying rush Brown back

Wes has started training with the first team and I am contemplating playing him in the reserves on Monday

Given the amount of important games we have coming up, it might be worth rushing him back

It would be great to have Wes available because he is such a fantastic defender and it will give us another option

Bad News

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Carrick and Rooney are doubts

There aren’t any serious injuries, but we’ve got quite a few bumps and bruises. Rooney got a knock, and Carrick got an ankle knock, but nothing serious.

It was one of those matches where, if in the previous weeks we’d been playing good tonight would have simply been adequate. But since we’ve been faltering this was a performance that inspires confidence and says to our up coming opponents “we’re back and our defence is going to be hard to get through”

What could have been a frustrating and tough match was made a lot easier with a brilliant strike in the 6th minute by Ronaldo from 40 yards, which only he would attempt. In truth no keeper would have been able to save. See Ronaldo’s goal here.

It was the goal in the 6th minute that really set up the whole match, it meant Porto couldn’t just defend their lead and try to counter attack, which I think was what they we’re hoping to do.

Having Rio back showed how much we’ve missed him. Not just in the defensive duty’s he performs but in the organisation he does and the calm he brings to those around.

Evra also deserves a mention. He was back to his usual little warrior self. Took a knock to the face when he headed one of their player, but carried on and didn’t let it shake him up.

The Midfield, which consisted of Rooney on the right, Carrick, Anderson and Giggs, really fulfilled their defensive duties. The didn’t perhaps hold the ball as well as they could have, but they were still good. Battled when needed, especially Anderson, and never really gave Porto any gaps they could exploit.

While Ronaldo didn’t really do much other then the goal tonight he still looked good. He tracked back when other players were out of position. He didn’t throw mini tantrums when he wasn’t getting the ball or was fouled. Towards the end he held the ball up and helped run the clock down.

Dimi was a bit of a disappointment, never really got in the game, but then I just don’t think this was the right game for him, perhaps if we hadn’t gone 1-0 up inside 6 minutes he would have been called on more.

Tonight shows that in the first match we were tied from only having two days rest after villa and that we were taken aback by how attacking they were. First match I thought Porto were really good, this match, with us rested they looked little more then average.

My Man Of Match

It’s between Wayne Rooney and Anderson for me. Both battled really well. Anderson put in a great shift considering it’s his first start since he got injured.

But for me the winner has to be Rooney, played out of position, didn’t complain, didn’t make any stupid challenges, got forward plenty and did the job Sir Alex sent him out to do.

Teams

How Man Utd Lined Up

Subs Not Used: Ben Foster, Gary Neville, Jonny Evans,  Carlos Tevez, Federico Macheda

How Porto Lined Up

Subs Not Used: Nuno, Milan Stepanov, Freddy Guarin, Andres Madrid

Stats

Goals: Ronaldo 6

Bookings: Vidic 42, Evra 59