Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Back to back League defeats for Manchester United and star players not performing to expectations. How much of that is down to the tactics and formations can be argued but after a bright start to the season not all us well in the red half of Manchester.
After a week to forget it doesn’t get any easier for Jose Mourinho’s side as they play hosts to defending champions Leicester. Last season The Foxes earned a 1-1 draw which all but clinched them the title, this time they will look to go one better.
The question of whether Wayne Rooney and Paul Pogba can play in the same team and have a real positive influence is set to run and run but don’t be surprised if once again they two stars are shoehorned into the side with neither making a real impact.
United can’t afford to drop any more points if they are to win the title. Their opponents Leicester only lost three times en route to their fairytale success last season, United have already lost twice and will face a tricky test this lunchtime against Claudio Ranieri’s men.
United finally got back to winning ways in midweek as they edged past Northampton in the EFL Cup. In all fairness even that wasn’t the most convincing of victories as Northampton made them earn their win and that was a game that United were expected to win comfortably
Leicester on the other hand didn’t have the same kind of luck as they lost to Chelsea. They were seemingly coasting at 2-0 up only for Antonio Conte’s side to eventually run out 4-2 winners after extra time. How much of a bearing will those extra 30 minutes have today?
You would have to imagine not all that much as Ranieri took the opportunity to rotate his squad and utilise some of the fringe players and give game time to some of the summer signings that haven’t quite been able to force their way into the first eleven.
The Foxes fared better in Premier League action last weekend as they strolled to a 3-0 victory over Burnley. Islam Slimani’s Leicester got off to a perfect start as he bagged a brace on his debut. His addition to the squad will give Leicester another dimension to their attack and they won’t have to necessarily rely on the pace of Jamie Vardy now they have added the Algerian to their ranks.
Slimani said that a large part of his move to Leicester was down to the fact that he could link up with compatriot Riyad Mahrez and they did that to great effect last Saturday as they strolled past Burnley. If they can do more of the same this lunchtime then that could cause United a few headaches.
United would have had some sore heads after failing to cope with Watford’s aerial threat last Sunday. Walter Mazzari’s men running out 3-1 winners as Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling had a torrid time going up against Troy Deeney. The question now is how can they deal with the likes of Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani today, they will certainly have to play better to nullify the attacking threat from Leicester.
Mourinho really needs a win Today to ease the pressure on him and revitalise what was an impressive start to the season. I think that will come as United bounce back to winning ways with a win that for a few hours at least cuts the gap to cross town rivals City to just three points. Home win for me.
