45′ + 3′ CLOSE! Martial cuts inside from the left and shifts the ball onto his right foot and fires a powerful effort towards the top left-hand corner of the net, but it flies just inches wide of the post.
45′ + 2′ Harriott does brilliantly to nick the ball off Rashford on the edge of his own penalty area and then sprint up the pitch, but just as it looks like he is about to get away, Shaw comes across and makes a superb sliding tackle to stop him in his tracks.
45′ There will be a minimum of three minutes added time played at the end of the half.
44′ Not too far away! Harriott finds a little bit of space on the edge of the penalty area and manages to get a shot away at goal, but it flies narrowly wide of the Manchester United goal.
43′ Colchester win their first corner of the game, can they work an opportunity from this set piece?
42′ BLOCKED! Martial finds space in the box, he then turns and fires a shot towards goal, but it’s well blocked by Prosser and goes out for a corner.
41′ We’re just a few minutes away from the break now, can Manchester United break through this resilient Colchester defence before the half-time whistle?
39′ We’ve only played 39 minutes and Gerken in the Colchester goal has already been booked for timewasting with a goal-kick.
37′ It’s like attack versus defence at the moment, with the visitors sitting deep and soaking up all of the pressure.
35′ Colchester are set to play their first ever away match against Man Utd in any competition – each of the last six English teams to play their first away game against the Red Devils have lost, most recently Crawley Town in 2011 – the last to win their first such game was Wimbledon in May 1987.
33′ Manchester United seem to be running out of ideas in the final third at the moment, they are getting to the edge of the penalty area and then trying to chip the ball over the top of the Colchester defence for Martial or Rashford to run onto, but it’s just not working.
31′ We’re just past the half an hour mark now between Manchester United and Colchester and it remains goalless, but the hosts are the ones knocking on the door.
29′ The travelling Colchester supporters can be heard inside Old Trafford, there are around 5,000 that have made the journey up to support their side.
27′ Almost! Martial is played in-behind and almost gets on the end of a long ball over the top, but Gerken is quickly off his line to gather.
26′ It could be a long night for the Colchester players, they have had to do an awful lot of defending so far as the United pressure continues.
24′ Manchester United have been eliminated from three of their last five EFL Cup quarter-finals, losing most recently in 2017/18 against Bristol City.
A. Young
Yellow Card
22′ Young is the first Manchester United player to be booked, after he trips Nouble as he looks to break forward on the counter.
21′ The visitors are trying to break forward on the counter, but they just can’t pick the right ball forward at the moment, with the two Manchester United centre-backs so far untested.
19′ CHANCE! Best opportunity of the game so far and Gerken has to be alert to deny Manchester United the opening goal. Rashford got forward down the left wing, he gets to the byline and then drags a cross back into the box, which takes a deflection and Gerken has to palm it out. However, the rebound then almost falls to Greenwood just a couple of yards out, but Eastman defends well and hooks it away.
H. Pell
Yellow Card
18′ Pell is the first player to be booked after his shove on Pereira. The midfielder feels that his side should’ve been awarded a free-kick just a moment earlier, but the referee disagreed.
17′ The pressure is building from Manchester United now, they’ve won a couple of corners that have come to nothing, but are camped inside the Colchester half. However, the visitors are doing a good job of keeping them away from their goal at the moment.
15′ Colchester have managed to get on the ball a little more in the last couple of minutes, but look nervous in possession and a few passes have gone astray.
13′ Wild effort! Rashford has been heavily involved already, having a couple attempts at goal and he’s just had another, but it’s a wild strike from 30 yards out and it flies high over the crossbar.
11′ This is only the third ever meeting between Manchester United and Colchester United – the Red Devils won the other two, 1-0 in the FA Cup in 1979 and 2-0 in the League Cup in 1983.
9′ Everyone is having to get back behind the ball for Colchester and when the hosts have the ball they are dropping into a five man defence, to try and limit the space Man United have to play in-behind.
7′ Good strike! Rashford steps up to take the set piece, he gets it up and over the Colchester wall, but it’s too close to Gerken who stops the ball and then gathers on the second attempt, almost spilling the ball on his goal line.
6′ Another Manchester United free-kick now after Rashford is fouled once again and it’s in another good position, around 30 yards out and more central.
5′ As expected, it’s the hosts who are enjoying the early possession in the opening few minutes of the game, with Colchester having to sit deep and soak up the pressure.
3′ Rashford goes for goal with a free-kick, but he goes more for power than placement and the ball flies well wide of the visitors goal.
2′ Free-kick to Manchester United in a very good position, right on the edge of the penalty area out to the left wing. Rashford sprinted at the Colchester defence and was tripped as he raced past three defenders. This could be a good shooting opportunity.
1′ The hosts win a corner within the opening minute of the game after Shaw does well down the left wing, however, they play the corner short and Colchester clear the danger.
1′ We’re under way!
The teams are out at Old Trafford and kick-off is just a few minutes away, stay tuned for all of the match action!
Meanwhile Colchester just make two changes to their starting line-up from the weekend, with Lapslie and Harriott coming into the side and Poku and Courtney Senior dropping out.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made seven changes to the side that drew with Everton, with only Maguire, Shaw, Martial and Rashford keeping their places in the starting XI.
COLCHESTER SUBS: Omar Sowunmi, Jevani Brown, Ryan Clampin, Ben Stevenson, Luke Gambin, Kwame Poku, Ethan Ross.
COLCHESTER (4-4-2): Dean Gerken; Ryan Jackson, Tom Eastman, Luke Prosser, Cohen Bramall; Tom Lapslie, Harry Pell, Brandon Comley, Callum Harriott; Frank Nouble, Luke Norris.
MAN UNITED SUBS: Lee Grant, Phil Jones, Brandon Williams, James Garner, Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay, Tahith Chong.
MAN UNITED (4-2-3-1): Sergio Romero; Ashley Young, Axel Tuanzebe, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Nemanja Matic, Andreas Pereira; Mason Greenwood, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford; Anthony Martial.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions, with three wins and two draws, including a 1-1 draw against Everton at the weekend. This good run of form has moved them up to sixth in the Premier League table. Meanwhile Colchester are ninth in League Two and they drew 2-2 with Scunthorpe United at the weekend.
Manchester United booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea, whilst Colchester beat fellow League Two side, Crawley Town 3-1 and they are the lowest ranked side still in the competition. They overcame Crystal Palace and Tottenham in the earlier rounds.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE match commentary of the EFL Cup clash between Manchester United and Colchester United at Old Trafford.
D. Gerken
Yellow Card