Man United suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Newcastle last weekend plus there’s supposedly a brewing mini-rebellion inside the dressing room but amongst all this, Erik ten Hag will now have to focus on beating Chelsea.
Manchester United are scheduled to take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday at Old Trafford and this high-profile game could not have come at a worse time for the Red Devils.
Despite the poor performances, Man United had been grinding out results so far this season but against the Magpies, nothing went their way. They were comically outplayed in every department by Howe’s men and the loss means United are now seventh on the table – five points away from the top-four.
Chelsea are even below the Red Devils at the moment but in recent weeks, Pochettino’s long-term plans are starting to bear fruit as his injured players slowly return to the squad. They picked up a really important win over Brighton at the weekend and despite them being five points behind Man United, the London side go to OT as the slight favourites.
The Manchester United manager will need to get a few things right if his team wish to get back to winning ways but even before the result, the fans will want to see a commanding and authoritative performance on Wednesday night.
Play at left-back at left-back:
Luke Shaw was used as a centre-back at the weekend and this experiment worked pretty well but Ten Hag surprisingly chose to use Dalot at left-back even though he has Reguilon in his squad.
Dalot played in that role vs the Magpies and he was really average for the first 80 minutes. Reguilon replaced him for the final 10-15 minutes of the match and immediately Man United looked much more assured down that left-hand side.
Ten Hag will probably keep Luke Shaw in central defence vs Chelsea as well but the Man United manager needs to name Reguilon in the starting XI. Raheem Sterling will play down that flank and a natural left-sided full-back will be much more suited to tackle the England international.
Kobbie Mainoo needs to start ahead of Amrabat:
Mason Mount, Eriksen and Casemiro are all ruled out while Sofyan Amrabat has turned out to be a failure which means Kobbie Mainoo needs to get another start.
The young midfield looks mature and assured on the ball, no matter where he receives it which is why ETH needs to keep him alongside McTominay. The Man United manager will be itching to use Amrabat in central midfield just to tighten things up defensively but Mainoo deserves a chance ahead of the summer signing.
It will definitely be a risk putting the youngster against players like Enzo and Cole Palmer but the state Manchester United are in right now, Ten Hag needs to explore all avenues and filter players purely on their performances.
Marcus Rashford needs to watch this one from the bench:
Rashford has been having a poor season but his body language in the Newcastle game has shocked everyone. He looked frustrated, out of ideas and refused to chase back whenever he lost the ball and his manager needs to understand that Garnacho and Antony will be a much better fit for the wider roles.
Antony is also a failure so far but the Brazilian international is a willing runner and is always ready to help out in defence and this trait will come really handy against a team like Chelsea.
In recent weeks, Garnacho has been an automatic choice down the left wing which has been forcing Marcus Rashord to play out of position but after his miserable display on Saturday, there’s no way he should be starting against Chelsea.
Overall, Man United do have the firepower to beat Chelsea and get back to winning ways but for that to happen, they will need to get the simple things right. Firstly, the players will have to be ready to work their socks off and run like crazy each time they lose the ball. Secondly, they will have to win every fifty-fifty chance, especially in the middle of the pitch because if players like Enzo and Caicedo are given control of the midfield then it’s curtains for the home team.
