Bring it on. Manchester United have been drawn in the FA Cup semi-finals with Chelsea.
The match will take place at Wembley, on the weekend of July 18/19.
Currently a Premier League fixture is scheduled at Old Trafford against West Ham on July 18, so this will need to be re-arranged, most likely pushed back to the following Wednesday.
Ole 3-0 v Lampard
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United have schooled Frank Lampard’s Chelsea on three separate occasions this season. Now we are looking to make it four out of four.
United won 4-0 in the Premier League on the opening day, then 2-1 in the Carabao Cup at Stamford Bridge, before a 2-0 away win at Chelsea in mid-February.
Those three wins come at a combined score of 8-1 to United, although our own poor results elsewhere mean we are still trying to chase them down in the Premier League, still five points back.
The three wins may end up counting for little if Chelsea beat us at Wembley. Our players will be up for the challenge to make sure it does not happen, while the Blues will no doubt be out for revenge and want to prove a point.
Beyond that…
The other semi-final pits Manchester City against Arsenal. This is a game you have to strongly assume City will win.
A final against City will require Solskjaer to beat Pep Guardiola for the fourth time this season. Guardiola has one win in return.
That is a big ask, and we all remember the last time United came up against a Guardiola side at Wembley in 2011 when we met Barcelona.
Can we beat Guardiola and Lampard four times each in a season? It is a big challenge, and one these United players will embrace.
We have done great to get to this stage, and soon we can settle in and enjoy these big games.
The first step is beating Chelsea, and who knows, a surprise final against Arsenal and a chance to get revenge for 2005 may lie in wait.
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