MANCHESTER UNITED HOSTS A LONG TIME RIVAL ONCE AGAIN
The Mid-week Premier League Matches is upon us once again and today's topic is a strange one a little simply because usually, Premier League are left out of the spotlight until the weekend when Manchester United pick up their difficult task of closing down on the top for teams on the Premier League table.
The task of breaking into one in the top four positions of the Premier League table was arguably made a lot easier for Jose Mourinho’s team with Manchester United set up to take on teams that anyone will normally expect Manchester United to clear the month of December with victories all around but so far Manchester United have not started picking up this expected victories.
Frankly, the situation of breaking into the top four places in the Premier League table this season seems to be problem Manchester United almost willingly throws themselves into repeatedly. Dropping points against some of the Premier Leagues hottest teams at the moment such as Liverpool, Tottenham or Manchester City will certainly grant Jose Mourinho a good level understanding, especially from the Manchester United Board of directors but dropping points against teams such as Bournemouth and Crystal Palace might just paint Jose Mourinho bitting off more than Mourinho himself can chew this time around.
To be fair to Jose Mourinho, the blame for Manchester United poor form current form should not rest entirely on the Portuguese manager's shoulders. The Manchester United had handed a list of quality players the Manager requested another to remold Manchester United into trophy contender which the Board members failed to complete. Poor efficiency from the club owners granted. However, the expectations of claiming a place in the Premier League top four positions this season might not have been expected to come with such a degree of difficulty. Especially when anyone factors in the number of quality players Jose Mourinho currently have at his disposal. A spot in the top four of the Premier League Table should not be this difficult. Should it?
As far as this week goes, The unfortunate news for Manchester United appears to be that Manchester United run of “easy games” seems to have made a pit stop tonight as Jose Mourinho prepares to lead his players out onto Old Trafford once again this season to face one of Manchester United's big rivals Arsenal. Manchester United have had quite frankly had an even split against Arsenal in terms of which team has the upper hand over the other team over the last meetings between the two clubs. Of cause, any familiar with the history between the two will be tempted to jump to the conclusion of Manchester United simply running away with a comfortable victory come final whistle at Old Trafford tonight. However, considering the massive improvements new Arsenal Manager Unai Emery has made to his club, plus the obvious instability which has plagued Manchester United's performance this season, tonights meeting between the two clubs might just spread some nervousness around Old Trafford.
If the projected outcome of tonights were to be judged according to the type of mindset Jose Mourinho might have come into tonight's match after last weekends disappointing draw to Crystal Palace, what people will expect from Manchester United tonight will be to see Jose Mourinho set his team up in an even stronger defensive form. Manchester United barely laid any sort of attacking pressure on Crystal Palace which allowed Roy Huddsons men to create some decent goal scoring chances in front of Manchester United's goalmouth.
Infact, had the Stellar saves from David Dea Gea not come into action two weekends ago, The Red Devils would have watched Crystal Palace walk out of Old Trafford last weekend with much more than a single point. Speaks volume of what level Manchester United is operating when a club struggling to avoid relegation such as Crystal Palace walks into Old Trafford, matches Manchester United almost stride, at the end of the day the opponent denies Manchester United of claiming all three points.
As for tonight, Jose Mourinho has his hands full with a big one. Matches against Arsenal have frequently been considered massively important. So tonight's match should be just as important as the previous meetings between Manchester United and Arsenal. Any injuries for Manchester United? Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez will definitely be the absentees from Manchester United’s 22 man squad tonight against the north London side Arsenal. Jose Mourinho confirmed last night through an interview that the pair is still fighting to recover from respective injuries which might last for a little while longer. With the history, Premier League players have of struggling against their former teams the absence of Alexis Sanchez from the starting XI against Arsenal tonight might be a blessing in disguise for Manchester United. Alexis Sanchez has clearly been struggling to hit his best form for Manchester United ever since his departure for North London dwellers Arsenal. Jose Mourinho will strongly hope that a couple of nights of for Alexis Sanchez will stir the Chilean into returning as the clinical Alexis Sanchez witnessed during the 2016/2017 Premier League season for Arsenal.
Tonight's match carries such a massive importance in regards to Manchester United reminding themselves, reminding every sports reporter, reminding every sports analyst and most importantly, reminding Manchester United fans that the Manchester United team is not planning to sit back, play slow lethargic football now and Manchester United certainly do not plan to continue to play slow, lackadaisical football for the rest of the season- the future. Sometimes, In-other to bounce back from a recurring poor form of football, the best way for any team to return playing the teams best football can be to outplay one of the team longest rivals. Home games have always played such a positive role in helping teams to reenergize their best football and what better way for Manchester United to reenergize their best football and make a strong challenge for at least one of the Premier Leagues Table top four spots than to defeat Liverpool whom, at the moment, is one of the top teams in this seasons Premier League competition.
Under the reign of current German manager, Jurgen Klopp Liverpool have simply gone from a bystander to a team that can potentially raise a serious challenge for any trophy in Europe. Liverpool operates with such faced paced attacking football complimented with silky smooth passes that make breaking down the defense of the opponent look easy for Klopp's men. By now Manchester United will not need telling that the most dangerous part of Liverpool's game to pay attention to will be the effectiveness of Liverpool's front three Firmino, Sallah and Sadio Mane. These three players have consistently had a hand in the work that goes into Liverpool's goal rate. Manchester United will have to use the most effective eleven players who are skilled with both high attacking quality with a mixture of high defensive quality to neutralize Liverpool's attacking threat on December 16, 2018. Naturally, the expectation of anyone analyzing tonight's match in support of a Manchester United will advise Manchester United to start tonight's match in attack mode by mounting enormous pressure on Liverpool's defense from the start.
However, judging from Jose Mourinho’s mode of operation during big games, defensive-minded players will be certain of a place in the starting line up tonight. Attack-minded midfielders such as Andreas Perera and Fred have been hindered from really injecting some much needed high quality attacking football into the pitch for Manchester United as a result of limited minutes on the field. Manager Jose Mourinho has continuously chosen to chosen to ignore the attacking quality both players can make on the field in terms of improving Manchester United's attacking quality and have continuously looked to a completely defensive minded Nemanja Matic, Ander Hererra or Marouane Fellaini to sit back and hold down the fort, leaving Paul Pogba as an isolated creative figure in the center of the park for Manchester United.
A single player burdened with the responsibility of creating all the attacking options in the center has hardly generated success for Manchester United. Paul Schools and David Beckham, Darren Flecher and Micheal Carrick. Manchester United have always operated with at least two creative midfielders and against an all-around quality team such as Liverpool, tonight relying solely on the efforts of one Paul Pogba might not be enough to get the job done.
