With a boring draw in the midweek UCL tie Manchester United have left it all to do in a daunting away clash against a Wolfsburg team who have rediscovered their mojo. Their morale too will be dented after such a dismal display. However dwelling on such a defeat could prove costly as the Red Devils are back in action this week against Leicester City in a top of the table cash. Win here and Manchester United move to the top of the table, Lose and they leave themselves vulnerable to dropping spots to Manchester City and Arsenal. Yes, it’s that tight because after all this isn’t a league like the Bundesliga (which has been a 1 team show for the last 4 years). At the same stage last week our opponents Leicester City were in 20th and last spot and today they are right on top. It shows that not a single team can be taken lightly in this league and rightfully so. In order to not take a revenue hit Manchester United need to win almost every game to successful in their quest for Champions League Qualification(a top 4 finish, could be top 3 due to poor performances by the English teams in Europe over the past 3-4 seasons).
Looking at Leicester City one would say that they are just enjoying an extended fast start to the season. However let’s assume they are among the top for this season at least. Louis Van Gaal would be a fool to underestimate this team (trailing Manchester United 3-1 last year the scripted a fabulous turnaround and ended 3-5) who have in their ranks Riyad Mahrez(the highest point earner in FPL) and league top scorer Jamie Vardy who if he finds the back of the net will set a new Premier League record of most consecutive games scored in. He is currently tied with former Manchester United Dutch star Ruud Van Nistelrooy at 10 games(the Dutchman’s 10 game streak came across 2 separate season) These 2 players are sort of carrying Leicester City.
Leicester have been vulnerable at the back and have followed the ploy adopted by Manchester United in Sir Alex’s final season in charge and that is to outscore the opposition despite leaking goals. Encouraging signs? I certainly hope so. Our defence is compact and we haven’t conceded a goal in open play since the 1-1 away draw at Moscow (incidentally the goal came of a penalty rebound). It has been almost 921 minutes since Alexis Sanchez scored a goal against United in open play. In Vardy the United back line (hopefully back 4) faces it’s most potent threat in Jamie Vardy. Hopefully their defence should give us hope as mot of our wns this season in all competitions have been with a one goal margin. Anthony Martial is due to score, hopefully this is the game he does so.
With Ander Herrera and Phil Jones ruled out this is the team I would go with.
De Gea, Young/Mcnair, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Schniderlin, Carrick, Mata, Lingard, Rooney, Martial
Subs: Romero, Tuanzebe, Darmian, Schweinsteiger, Memphis, Perera, Fellaini
Young over Darmian because he is a natural attacker and Van Gaal would be tempted to exploit their defensive frailities, Mata over Memphis as he was rested midweek and Carrick starts as Schweinsteiger has started the last 2 games
My prediction is a 2-1 win to Manchester United and Vardy clinching the Premier League scoring record.
-Reubyn RF
No comments:
Post a Comment