FA CUP: Man Utd's flexibility gives them advantage over Chelsea - Fletcher

FA CUP: Chelsea vs Manchester United

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tactical flexibility has already seen his side win at Tottenham and Arsenal in the past month and it could be the key to them beating Chelsea on Monday too.


United will be without Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial for their fifth-round FA Cup tie because of injury.

That flexibility is the biggest difference between United and Chelsea at the moment, because we know what we are going to get from Maurizio Sarri's side.

In my time at United, Stamford Bridge was a notoriously hard place to go. They have only won twice there since 2002 and have lost 14 out of their past 22 visits.

But despite that poor record, I think Solskjaer will look at this game and think there are opportunities to exploit in the same way United did at Wembley and Emirates Stadium.

With Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic in the team, he has the choice of a single or double pivot at every stage of the game.

'Sarri-ball' will see Chelsea play with a single pivot in their 4-3-3, with Jorginho as that deep midfielder, with N'Golo Kante and probably Mateo Kovacic either side.

If you look at the physicality of all of those players, United's midfielders are a lot bigger and more powerful.

• Former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher's Analysis (part) on BBC Sport