Manchester United will be back in Premier League action at Old Trafford this weekend as they welcome rivals Manchester City to the Theatre of Dreams. Erik ten Hag’s team looks to be in better shape after recording three wins in a row in their last three matches.
United sit eighth in the Premier League at the time of publishing with City sitting in second place. There are six points between the two teams. United are having a terrible start to the campaign but to be that close to City, who are two points adrift of the top spot is not all that bad.
United have beaten Brentford, Sheffield United and FC Copenhagen in the last three matches. United have not been a clinical side but seem to be getting better. Ten Hag will be seeking to get a good result against City but it is expected that City could overpower them easily.
Manchester United
Onana;
Dalot, Maguire, Evans, Lindelof;
Amrabat, McTominay;
Fernandes, Eriksen, Rashford;
Hojlund
Substitutes
Bayindir; Reguilon, Varane; Mount, Mainoo, Hannibal; Martial, Garnacho, Antony
Manchester City
Ederson;
Walker, Dias, Gvardiol;
Stones, Rodri;
Foden, Alvarez, Silva, Grealish;
Haaland
Substitutes
Ortega; Ake, Lewis, Gomez, Bobb, Nunes, Kovacic, Phillips, Doku
United need to start showing their ability to grind out victories against those teams who are considered to be stronger and better than them. City is one of those teams whose investment has been equal to United in the past decade but have done much better.
Ten Hag’s side needs to start on the front foot and have the confidence to beat them, because they can at the end of the day. It is always possible for City to be beaten – they have lost twice in the Premier League this season – only Spurs and Arsenal are unbeaten at this time.
United have many talented players in their squad but they are not performing as they should. So those problems need to be addressed at some point this season and the general confidence of the club needs to be raised – the Glazers selling up could achieve that.
Written by John Walker
