Antony beat Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella to win Olympic gold with Brazil

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Manchester United winger Antony could come up against fellow big money summer signing Marc Cucurella in Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.

Since joining the Red Devils at the end of August, the 22-year-old has started all nine of our matches, and has seemingly made the right-wing position his own.

The former Ajax star nearly opened the scoring in United’s 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur after cutting inside and hitting the post with a terrific curling effort.

Like former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben, stopping Antony cutting inside onto his favoured left foot is proving a difficult assignment for left-backs.

The latest full-back to be tasked with nullifying the tricky Joga Bonito star is former Brighton & Hove Albion man Cucurella.

Antony beat Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella to win Olympic gold

The Spaniard was signed by Thomas Tuchel in a deal worth an initial £56m with a possible £7m in add-ons, according to ESPN.

But following the German’s sacking, Cucurella has been reunited with former Seagulls boss Graham Potter.

The 24-year-old will be hoping Potter gives him the nod over Ben Chilwell to start against Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.

If the Spaniard is named in the starting line-up over the England international, then Chelsea’s number 32 will come up against Antony for the second time in his career.

In last summer’s Olympic Gold medal match, Brazil and Spain squared off against one and other.

With Antony on the right for Selecao and Cucurella at left-back for La Furia Roja, the pair found themselves directly battling against one and other.

Brazil won the match 2-1 in extra time, and it was Antony who provided the match-winning assist for Malcolm.

Cucurella was brought off before extra time began, but there was one piece of brilliance that United’s number 21 produced that left Cucurella at sixes and sevens.

Showcasing his neat footwork and mazy dribbling skills, for a split second Cucurella had no idea whether Antony was coming or going.

Hopefully Antony can continue to torment Cucurella if he comes up against the one-time Spain international in West London on Saturday evening.