Man United lost to Leicester City at home on Tuesday meaning they have once again turned the Premier League top-four race on its head.
The Manchester United manager chose to make 10 changes to his starting line-up which had faced Aston Villa on Sunday and quite evidently, this second-fiddle side were overpowered by Leicester City.
The dropped three points not only helped Manchester City reclaim the Premier League title but clubs like Chelsea, West Ham United, Spurs and even Liverpool are now breathing heavily. The win puts Leicester back on the third spot with teams like West Ham United and Liverpool trying really hard to grab that final Champions League spot on the table.
While Solskjaer did bring in players such as Rashford and Bruno Fernandes during the second half but by then the damage had been done and according to former Man City man Trevor Sinclair, Man United should be slapped with a points deduction for fielding a B team on Tuesday.
“Without being disrespectful to the players that played tonight, they made ten changes, this is their ‘B’ team,” Sinclair told talkSPORT.
“I think that’s disrespectful and it takes away from the top four race. Why didn’t the police and the club make amendments and make sure they safeguard the stadium? They didn’t do that.
“The teams that are going to suffer from Man United’s lack of due diligence, the ones who could miss out on the top four, are Chelsea possibly, Liverpool, West Ham and Tottenham.
“I think there needs to be a punishment for Man United. Three points isn’t enough because that doesn’t affect anything.
“I honestly feel the way they put out this team, the way they didn’t safeguard their stadium, I think a six-point deduction should be given to Manchester United.”
Man United played Aston Villa on Tuesday and less than 48 hours later they had to take on Leicester City. And if this was not enough then on Thursday they have an all-important game against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
With such a tight schedule, Solskjaer was bound to make changes to his usual line-up, especially since his side have already secured a top-four spot. And naturally he chose to rest players against the Foxes rather than making chances for the Liverpool matche.
As for teams like Spurs and Liverpool, they have been stalling all throughout the season so one cannot really blame for Man United not looking after their well-being. West Ham United have been top form all throughout this season but even their form has dipped in the past couple of matches.
Chelsea, right now, look the favourites to finish in the top-four alongside Leicester City and Man United so West Ham, Spurs and Liverpool will now have to fight it out for the Europa League spots.
The FA Cup winner and the Carabao Cup winners are both likely to finish withing the top four so a few other league spots should open up for the Europa League qualifications next season.
