Carabao Cup 2019-20 | 3 United players who need to step up against Manchester City

With a dim expectation of making a comeback from a 1-3 deficit, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his men will meet their city rivals Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening in the second leg of the (EFL) Carabao Cup semi-final.

Although the job seems to be a next-to-impossible one for the red side of Manchester, we have already seen a plethora of unexpected results from this Solskjaer's side many times this season.

And we can't deny the memories of the spiritual night in Paris, where Solskjaer's young guns nullified PSG's defence to secure one of the most surprising comebacks in the club's history. Hence, fans could hope for a thrilling encounter this Wednesday.

On the other hand, City will try to replicate their first leg's performance. As Manchester City tasted a 2-1 defeat to United once earlier this season, Pep Guardiola would be looking to not repeat the same mistakes they did during their season's first meeting at Etihad.

In order to get something positive out of this fixture, the players of Manchester United need to give their best. Without wasting any further time, let's jump into the main topic and see the three Red Devils who need to step up their game against Manchester City.

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#3 Frederico Rodrigues (Fred)

Fred has to win midfield battles on Wednesday to give Manchester United an edge

Manchester United will face Manchester City on an away pitch and big games are won and lost in the midfield. If we compare Manchester City's midfield to Manchester United's midfield, we will find there is a vast difference of quality between them.

While Manchester City have the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, Rodri, and David Silva to run their midfield, the long-term injuries to two of United's main midfielders - Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay have drastically limited the numbers in the midfield department.

Frederico Rodrigues - also known as Fred - has become the only one in the Manchester United squad who can play the role of a box-to-box midfielder. This season, Fred has been inconsistent with his performances.

But, if Manchester United are to beat their noisy neighbours, Fred's movements both on and off the ball need to be perfect. United is likely to field their team in 3-5-2 formation yet again after the weekend's success over Tranmere Rovers. And Fred has to don the midfield to abolish City's midfield dominance.

#2 Daniel James

Daniel James has to regain his form

After making a perfect start to his life at Old Trafford, it seems like a dip in form has struck Daniel James. The Wales prodigy joined the Manchester side last summer from Swansea City for a reported transfer fee of £15 million.

After scoring the first goal in his debut match against Chelsea, he racked up two goals on the trot against Crystal Palace and Southampton. However, since then, the 21-year-old is yet to bag a goal for his club.

James is fast and can play in the right and left-wing positions. He could be a threat for Manchester City's defender as United will be looking to apply counter-attacking strategies against a team like Manchester City, who play with a high-line of defence.

James can hurt teams on the break and his long-range passing qualities become pivotal while counter-attacking. In this 2019-20 Premier League season, he has registered 6 assists to his name so far.

As James was given rest during their weekend's game against Tranmere Rovers, it's believed that he will make it to the starting eleven on Wednesday. And, if everything goes as expected, we can see him pairing with Anthony Martial in a two-men frontline.

#1 Anthony Martial

Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial, both scored against Tranmere Rovers

While Manchester United will miss Marcus Rashford on Wednesday due to his injury issues, Anthony Martial is expected to showcase his lethal attributes to fill the void.

On this weekend, United went on to score 6-0 to thrash the League One side Tranmere Rovers. Anthony Martial delivered a beauty just outside the box. Ahead of the mega fixture, the goal would certainly boost his morale.

Despite missing several games with his hamstring injury, Anthony Martial has garnered 12 goals and 5 assists across all competitions and is the 2nd top-goalscorer for the club this season so far.

This season, while Martial has scored some superb goals with his individual skillset, he has missed a number of good chances inside the box. When Manchester City hosted United in the Premier League earlier this term, he provided an extraordinary performance, racking up a crucial goal which decided the fate of the match.

As Manchester have got Aymeric Laporte back from injury, the battle between him and Martial would be an interesting one.