"Strange decision to not play him", "Lucky Arsenal" - Manchester United fans react as star left out of XI for FA Cup clash against Gunners

Manchester United fans are unhappy with Ruben Amorim’s decision to exclude Amad Diallo from the starting lineup to face Arsenal in the third round of their FA Cup on Sunday, January 12. Alejandro Garnacho took the place of the 22-year-old Diallo.

Sunday's match will be the second time that Arsenal and Manchester United meet this season. The two sides had initially met in the Premier League on December 4, with Arteta’s men coming out better with a 2-0 victory.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils will hope to defend their FA Cup trophy, having defeated their local rival Manchester City in the final of the last edition 2-1.

However, their journey to their title defense begins with the uphill task of defeating Arsenal at the Emirates. Amad Diallo has been a key player for United in the last few matches. In fact, he has started the last six Premier League games for the Red Devils and scored the equalizer in the last match against league leaders Liverpool.

As such, the expectation of the United faithful is to see Diallo included in the starting XI against the Gunners, but Amorim made a surprising decision by naming the player on the bench.

The decision didn’t sit well with some Manchester United fans as they took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their displeasure about the tactical change.

An X user wrote:

''Strange decision to not play Amad.''

Another tweeted:

''No amad lucky arsenal.''

''He doesn’t wanna win LOOOOOOOOOOL. Why does he refuse to start Amad against these man. Jesus Christ above.'' @Nathiniho wrote.

''Why is Amad on the bench now?'' @YankhoPhiri3 queried.

''Why benching amad diallo in a crucial game like this fgs'' @UTDMarcel added.

It is also important to note that first choice goalkeeper Andre Onana was replaced with Altay Bayındır.

‘’We have to win’’ - Ruben Amorim on Manchester United ahead of FA Cup clash with Arsenal

In the pre-match conference of Manchester United's FA Cup match with Arsenal, Ruben Amorim said his side has to replicate the heroics of the last performance against Liverpool and emerge victorious at the Emirates.

The Portuguese manager also added that his side was aiming to win the coveted trophy.

He said (via Manchester Evening News);

''At this moment, I am living day by day. We had one week without a game. It does not make sense for me to rest players now and play both games really near. We have to win and follow the last performance.

''We are in a difficult moment. We are improving, we will put out the best team to try to win. I will choose the best team to win. We want to win the cup. Sometimes it is better to win this type of game and have less time to rest. We just want to win this game and then we will think about the next."