Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
With three of the top four in F.A. Cup action this weekend the focus shifts to the race for the Champions League places as Manchester United have the perfect opportunity in which to close the gap to cross town rivals Manchester City before next Thursday’s derby.
But they make the relatively short journey to Burnley without their talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic after he sustained an injury during the clubs Europa League win over Anderlecht on Thursday night. It is an injury that means Ibrahimovic is set to miss the rest of the season.
But also is that the last we have seen of Ibrahimovic in a United shirt? That is a question that is still to be answered but what we do know is that young starlet Marcus Rashford will once again be given an opportunity to start after he scored the goal that secures their path to the Europa League Semi Finals.
That means via that particular route United are just three matches away from earning a backdoor entry into the Champions League next season. Many thought by now that they would put all their eggs in that basket but a top four finish is still very much a realistic proposition.
That is because Jose Mourinho got the better of his former employers last weekend after masterminded his side to a 2-0 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford. They are now in the position where a win this afternoon and next Thursday would see them finally return to the top four with 5 matches left to play and more importantly a game in hand over Liverpool in third.
But they should certainly not take a trip to Turf Moor lightly due to the fortress that Burnley have managed to create this season. Many teams have failed to pick up maximum points here, with only Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal being successful in doing so.
It’s that home form that has all but secured their Premier League status for next season but they are not quite over the line just yet as they are four points short of the hallowed 40 point marker. But as good as their home form has been their away form has been just as bad if not worse.
A fortnight ago they would have earmarked a trip to Middlesbrough as the fixture where they would finally put an end to the away jinx. But when you pit a team who struggles to score versus a team that cannot win away from home then it should come as no surprise that it ended in a bore draw. Last on Match Of The Day was absolutely no surprise.
Sean Dyche will be relieved that their home form is impressive as last Saturday fared no better when on the road as they were no match for an in form Everton outfit. They lost 3-1 to Ronald Koeman’s men and although it was level just after half time, The Toffees found the extra gears to run out eventual winners.
That defeat left Burnley 14th at the start of the weekend (and at the time of writing) but if Bournemouth are to beat Middlesbrough then they will find themselves a position further down and just perhaps looking nervously over their shoulder especially if Hull and Swansea both pick up positive results.
When these two sides met at Old Trafford it was perhaps the most stupendous 0-0 result that you will ever see as Tom Heaton arguably had the game of his life. It was the kind of the game where you could have had 100 shots on target and still not scored. It was just not to be United’s day as they laid siege on the Burnley goal.
Will Burnley be that fortunate again this afternoon as they will once again have to withstand a barrage of United pressure or will the fact that Mourinho’s star studded squad had to play an additional 30 minutes go against them. That’s also not forgetting the fact that Marcos Rojo is also out injured so they will have a patched up centre back pairing once again.
Burnley will no doubt make life difficult for their opponents as they always do at Turf Moor but I think United are really in the groove right now as they continue to grind out the necessary results. I’ll go for an away win which sets up the Manchester Derby on Thursday very nicely.
