City to complete week of misery for United
Manchester United welcome rivals City to Old Trafford early on Saturday evening, looking to restore some pride after being unceremoniously booted out of the Champions League at the group stage in midweek. Ole Gunnar Solskjær's charges were 3-0 down to RB Leipzig before leaving things far too late to fight back from such a losing position. Meanwhile, their neighbours sailed through to the knockout stages with time to spare, and Sergio Agüero was welcomed back from injury in the best way possible, laying down an ominous marker against Marseille before derby day. Things are set to go from bad to worse for the tactically insipid Red Devils. Read our preview here:
Double pivot to spineless
One of the things most apparent from the loss to Leipzig was the speed and ease at which United's opponents could bypass the double pivot in midfield with quick, incisive diagonal passes. Nemanja Matić and Scott McTominay do have a lot of qualities, but are not blessed with particularly great agility, nor the vision to intercept balls like that when they're a regular occurrence. There remain significant structural weaknesses in how they're usually set up tactically - even if the back four become a three, that defensive screen stays in situ, but it holds little purpose if the game is taken to them. Similarly, the attacking impetus of the full-backs is lopsided in favour of Alex Telles on the left, and although Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are more than capable of drifting wide to cut back inside, there are a dearth of red shirts to aim for. Edinson Cavani is not likely to feature from the start, so Greenwood might take his place as the lone striker. Juan Mata could be recalled to the right of a very pedestrian looking midfield quartet, Bruno Fernandes aside.
The alternative to Jesus
Either way, it ought to be the visitors who enjoy the lion's share of the ball. The defence in front of Ederson have been performing more coherently of late, and John Stones has started to regain the form that made the club part with so much money for his signature in the first place. Thanks to a series of serious injuries, Ilkay Gündogan isn't as lithe as he once was, but he and Rodri are far more accomplished in their dual role of screening the high defensive line and supporting the attacking four in advance of them. With Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres vying for a place up top, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod, especially as Agüero is now an option once again. Jesus hasn't found the net in his last five appearances in all competitions, whereas the Spanish forward has taken up the cudgels of the central striker vacancy for both club and country. It's a good dilemma for Pep Guardiola to now have, and their goal tally should increase substantially as a result.
Been down this road before
United have been decidedly weaker on their own patch than on the road, which speaks volumes of the effects the lack of fans in the stands have had on many clubs like theirs who can count on many tens of thousands ordinarily. More pertinently, Solskjær has the air of a manager who hopes rather than plans for each game, and of someone with most of the tools he needs at his disposal, but never a consistent and firm grasp of how best to use them. Speculation about his position seldom goes away because he's undermined from within by player (and agent) power, and without by a feeling he had a lucky run when in interim charge to get the gig. Ferran Torres' odds of 7.50 to score first just as he did midweek look very juicy indeed, and more misery for the United faithful looks inevitable.
