Both halves sewn up
Man United host Derby County tonight at Old Trafford in the third round of the League Cup. Despite the two teams playing in different leagues they’re more than familiar with each other from earlier this year when the two sides met in the third round of the FA Cup.
Back in January United won the match 2-0 through late goals from Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku, who are both fit to play a part tonight.
Man United manager Mourinho has spoken of his enjoyment for cup competitions, relishing the pressure of the knockout tournament. And he more than anyone is well aware of the chances for the smaller clubs to cause an upset by beating the big boys, stating there is ‘more possibility of killing giants’.
The trend this season is for the Reds to take the lead in the first half
The giants, Manchester United are no doubt expected to make some key changes ahead of this tie, but the likes of Lindelöf, Shaw, Smalling, Herrera, Mata and Pogba who all feature in the starting 11 in their previous meeting are all available. This will provide a strong backbone of experience for the Manchester side.
The visitors Derby County are grabbing the headlines, not for their performances, but because of their manager. Ex-England man Frank Lampard took over at Derby County over the summer in his first managerial posting. Lampard was once a student of Mourinho and will be looking to get one over on his old tutor.
When they do, they see it out
Lampard will fancy his chances against his old master and is likely to start Chelsea loanee Mason Mount who will be looking to impress in front of the cameras.
Despite their last meeting being a cagey affair and it taking some time to break down the Derby defence, United should have an easier time of it tonight. Although still somewhat stumbling, this is a different United than last season. Last season’s United struggled to break teams down and their match against the Rams was endemic of their difficulties back then.
United's form over both halves:
- Leicester (h): HT 1-0 // FT 2-1 ✅
- Brighton (a): HT 3-1 // FT 3-2 ❌
- Spurs (h): HT 0-0 // FT 0-3 ❌
- Burnley (a): HT 0-2 // FT 0-2 ✅
- Watford (a): HT 0-2 // FT 1-2 ✅
- Young Boys (a): HT 0-2 // FT 0-3 ✅
- Wolves (h): HT 1-0 // FT 1-1 ❌
Right now it’s a different prospect. The trend this season is for the Reds to take the lead in the first half and when they do, they see it out, the only exception coming at the weekend to Wolves.
Although I don’t think it will be a complete rout, I expect United to get the job done on home turf and a lot smoother than last time round at any rate. There’s not much value in the market for a straight United win which is understandable, but for United Half Time/Full Time the odds take a boost to 5/6 with Ladbrokes.
Post bet chat Adam's Tips:
United started off well, scoring a wonderful team goal finished off by Juan Mata. It deterioated thereafter and Derby broke with convention to come back from behind. United drew 2-2 at full time and lost on penalties.