MANCHESTER UNITED STRUGGLE ON THE FIELD SET TO LAST A WHILE LONGER
The injury list at Manchester United has been a serious situation at Manchester United for the past three games. The reality is that without some of the team's best players on the team, the chances are that the team will struggle on the pitch. That is the basic reality of how teams operate in modern football.
If the team's best players are absent on the pitch, there is a strong possibility the team will struggle to perform up to high expêctation on the football pitch. Poor performance accompanied by poor results on the football pitch is exactly the reality Manchester United is facing during the current 2019/20 season. Opening the article with talks about the latest injury news facing Manchester United is obviously not the most positive situation Manchester United fans would have hoped especially considering whom Manchester United opponent is this coming Sunday. The worst part is that the news coming out in the past few days concerning Manchester United points towards the idea that series of poor results is unfortunately set to continue at the club and will possibly run until October comes to an end.
If there are still some Manchester United fans who are still unaware of the latest news in regards to Manchester United's injury crises here is the latest. The club is still without the presence of Jesse Lingard, Eric Baily, Luke Shaw, and Dutch international Timothy Fosu-Mensah as all the above-mentioned players remain on the sidelines to nurse their various injuries. The news of french duo Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba missing out on Manchester United's next big game against arch-rivals Liverpool this weekend will come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to news concerning Manchester United in the past two weeks or so.
The duo remains out of the starting XI for Manchester United due to various injuries with Anthony Martial being the only possible player with a slim possibility of making the starting line up against Liverpool this Sunday. While Manchester United manager remained ever so optimistic in his press conference as always, the reality remains that it is difficult to see Manchester United getting any type of positive result this weekend with such a depleted team.
Manchester United's opponents this Sunday, Liverpool, have been on a rampage since the start of the season winning game after game and scoring an average of close to three goals a game this season. The front three of Mohamed Sallah, Roberto Firminho and Sadio Mane have risen to become one of the most dangerous attacking trios in the Premier League. With a combined average of 69 goals and 25 assists between the three players alone this season, difficult to see how Ole Gunner Solskjaers men will be able to hold off this Liverpool side especially with Manchester United heading into this weekend's encounters missing a lot of key players due to various injuries.
Considering the timeline of the epic rivalry between both clubs, the truth remains as much as Manchester United fans will hate the simple idea of their opponents this Sunday, Liverpool, being considered to hold the upper hand in this weekend's match the truth is Liverpool are favorites. When comparisons between Manchester United and Liverpool is brought up, the fact of the matter is that the statistics do not necessarily need to be brought up to know Manchester United is the underdog and Jorgen Klopp’s Liverpool side are the clear favorites. The 2019/20 Premier League table clearly tells the entire story as the middle of the current season approaches.
Positively approaching this weekend's match from a Manchester United perspective, this weekends' match against Liverpool is not a certainty that Manchester United will undoubtedly lose the match. While the facts of Manchester United heading into the match with a depleted team has not changed as of yet, there are no guarantees that Manchester United will concede defeat to Liverpool this weekend. Solskjaer might have failed to strengthen his squad to be at the level of a serious trophy contender but there is no concrete evidence that suggests that the current Manchester United squad available to face Liverpool this weekend lack enough quality needed to at least get a point at Anfield.
The presence of striker Marcus Rashford who made his return from injury during England's recent Euro qualifiers match against the Cezch republic will be a welcome boost to the squad manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer picks to face Liverpool this Sunday. The English striker was initially speculated to be out of the manchester United side listed to face Liverpool but after Rashford took part in Gareth Southgate's England team who successfully defeated the Cech Republic in last weekends friendly, Solskjear might have the option of adding Rashford to the starting XI this weekend and give Manchester United a better chance of getting a point or points against Liverpool.
Can Ole Gunner Solskjaer rally his Manchester United team to pull off a massive victory this weekend against Liverpool in front of what is sure to be a packed Old Trafford crowd? If Manchester United does indeed avoid defeat this Sunday against Liverpool, this will surely be the second biggest achievement of Ole Gunner Solskjear's career as Manchester United manager. As things stand the head to head statistics on possible winners this Sunday place Manchester United behind favorites Liverpool in an overwhelming 56% - 21% in favor of Jorgen Klopp's men with the remaining 23% predicting a draw this Sunday according to the pools.
Manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer might be out of the woods regarding the situation with the Manchester United board but to the fans a loss this Sunday might turn up the volume on the desire for another managerial change which has already started in small doses at Old Trafford.