Really interested by what team starts this one for us, probably more than any game this season. Promises to be a fascinating battle.
The area I think we should target the most is between their lines of midfield and defence. It's where I think they are most vulnerable. It's why I think we should use Suarez down the middle with Sturridge wide. Suarez dropping off between the lines supported by Henderson could be really dangerous and is the main area of attack we should be looking to create from. Suarez's intelligent movement between the lines will also enhance the impact of Sterling and Sturridge - if we get those two running into the space Suarez creates by pulling defenders out, we can cause them problems.
Gerrard and Lucas need to stay deep in possession. Their CMs can be enticed to press high and often end up leaving space behind them. If we get numerical superiority in deep positions, we can entice their front players to press high. If we beat that press, there is space in the middle of their block. Therefore we can play our short build up, entice them to pressure and use the full backs on the switch of play who then play it inside to expose them between the lines.
Not that we generally have problems with this but we need to make sure we don't rush the attack from the back. West Brom a couple of weeks ago played too many long balls to try and expose the space behind their defence but actually played right into their hands. Hopefully we'll keep composed in possession
Their space behind their backline can also be exploited. When we beat them 4-1 in 09, we purposely targeted that space between Vidic and Evra on the counter attack. Rafa noticed that a)there was a lot of space behind their defence and between Evra and Vidic in possession. And b) Vidic was not great in turning with space behind. If you look at it, our first three goals in that game came as a result of targeting that space. First was a long ball that Vidic didn't deal with running back to his own goal. Second we won a penalty when Torres played in Gerrard behind Evra. The third goal, Vidic got sent off because he couldn't deal with Gerrard running past him again in that inside left channel. Even now they have a weakness there. Evra in particular is prone to switching off. He often has a problem closing that space, both on the counter attack and also when United sit in their shape behind the ball. Look at Pedro's goal in the '11 CL Final. Evra ends up marking Messi in the middle, which leaves space for Pedro behind him, outside Vidic. Swansea a few weeks back scored from opening up that space where Evra marked the wrong player and allowed a runner to move into that channel. I think Sturridge can target that area of their backline with his pace and movement.
