No one puts Solskjaer in a corner – but Spurs will try

Out of possession, Spurs will put up a midfield barrier to protect the defence. Although the space behind the fullbacks is where United may look to hit direct passes, teams tend to score from shots taken within the width of the box – not from wide. If there is no space in the middle of the pitch, it is hard to have an attempt on goal.

Adopting this 4-3-1-2 shape forces teams to either send hopeful crosses from wide into the box to be headed away by one of Spurs’ big centrebacks, or shoot from distance into a wall

of bodies. That is what happened to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final

first leg anyway, with

Maurizio Sarri’s side

clearly lacking a striker or anyone to aim crosses

toward, when attacking.

As a result, the wide Chelsea forwards

ran out of ideas and took harmless shot after wasteful shot from distance. Most landed in the

stands.

For this reason, Ole Gunnar

Solskjaer may

use Romelu Lukaku (left) as a No9 at Wembley, with Marcus Rashford moved to the wing to accommodate him.