Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer raised the prospect of Manchester City using 'tactical fouls' during tonight's Carabao Cup semifinal first-leg clash.

Solskjaer has complained in the past about City's approach to stopping his team's speedy counterattacks and revisited the topic yesterday.

After explaining the importance of playing past the first press of City, which is often very difficult, he was asked whether it is also about preventing the opponent from making tactical fouls.

"Exactly. Last time we managed to play past their pressure, and if you count the number of free kicks, I don't think there were that many. That's a big deal," said Solskjaer.

"Sometimes I look at the referees during our matches, because even though there's only minor wrongdoing, there have been teams that have stopped us by making these small free kicks. It has prevented us from showing how good we are at attacking. But this time it wasn't me who picked it up, it was you."

He also called for protection for Daniel James.

"There have been some tackles on James. It's best if I don't talk about it, but the referees need to take a look at it when players with his speed knock the ball past an opponent and are kicked down. Of course, it should be a yellow card."