Manchester United welcome Burnley to Old Trafford in the Premier League this afternoon just three days after reaching the UEFA Europa League semi-finals where they will face AS Roma. United’s 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday saw United open up a lead in second place in the league, giving them space over Leicester City, who are currently third in the league. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be seeking to see the same from his squad, who have only lost to Leicester City (Emirates FA Cup), Sheffield United (Premier League) and Manchester City (Carabao Cup) in 2021. That is good form but still some moan about this.
If United beat Burnley, which is their 32nd Premier League match of the season and levelling up with the number of matches City have played, it will leave United just eight points from City in second place with six matches left to play in the league before the end of the season. Granted, United’s chance of winning the league has long been gone but they can show good form between now on the end of the season, which could add some pressure on City and who knows what could happen. To see United finish the season strongly would benefit them next season, where they will need to start strongly, which is not what happened this season.
Manchester United:
Henderson;
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw;
McTominay, Fred;
Rashford, Fernandes, Pogba;
Greenwood
Substitutes:
De Gea; Telles, Williams, Tuanzebe; Mata, James, Matic, Van de Beek; Cavani
Burnley:
Peacock-Farrell;
Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor;
Cork, Westwood, Brownhill;
Gudmundsson, McNeil;
Wood
Substitutes:
Norris; Pieters, Barnsley, Nartey, Dunne; Stephens, Richardson; Rodriguez, Vydra
United and Burnley have played 13 times in the history of the Premier League. United have won seven times, drawing four times with Burnley winning the remaining two matches. United have scored 18 goals with Burnley scoring just eight. The Red Devils were awarded four penalties, scoring two of them with Burnley yet to win a penalty against them. United have kept eight clean sheets with Burnley keeping four. In terms of discipline, United’s players have been booked 24 times and were shown two red cards. Burnley’s players have been shown 34 yellow cards with no red cards at this time.
This season, United beat Burnley at Turf Moor in a 1-0 victory with Paul Pogba, assisted by Marcus Rashford, scoring the only goal of the match. This was a match that was delayed from earlier in the season as it was supposed to be the opening Premier League match for United. At the time this match was played, United were flying high in the league table and topped it after this result. United have been in second place since Manchester City took the top spot. In the fixture at Old Trafford last season, Burnley won 2-0 with Chris Wood, assisted by Ben Mee and Jay Rodriguez, assisted by Wood, scoring the goals.
Written by John Walker
