Manchester United get ready to face Leicester and bring home 3 valuable points. A win that could see Ten Hag’s men climb all the way up to 5th in the table. A sight that would be a relief to the United faithful given that they were sitting at the bottom of the table less than a fortnight ago.
The Opposition
Brendan Rodgers has gotten his team off to the worst possible start with the foxes stuck at the bottom of the table. Rumours of first-team players being near the exit seem to have thrown a spanner in Rodgers’ plans for the start of the season. James Maddison might only be fit enough to be on the bench, which is a huge blow to Leicester given he has probably been the best performer in the squad.
Rodgers will be hoping to get his team to bounce back in a similar way to United’s game against Liverpool. United were staring at a third defeat in a row but came out swinging and took the 3 points. The foxes will be hoping to get a similar result and grab their first victory of the campaign.
No Martial, again!
Anthony Martial looked like he would have the opportunity to start the season as United’s frontman. But injuries seem to be getting the better of him, again. Ten Hag announced that Martial will be out for the midweek game against the foxes. That means that after 5 games, Martial would have played a mere 45 minutes for United.
Irrespective of whether Ronaldo stays at the club, can United rely on Martial to feature on a regular basis? Throughout preseason it looked like Ten Hag had taken a liking to Martial. And that’s why it is such a disappointment for all parties that the Frenchman can’t seem to stay fit. With United’s options upfront looking thin, only time will tell if Ten Hag will regret not bringing in a striker this summer.
How will Ten Hag rotate his squad?
United’s first-midweek fixture will be the first indication of how Ten Hag will use his squad to rotate. One of the reasons Ole was scrutinized was the fact that he at times didn’t rotate his squad enough. That may be primarily due to a lack of options. But if Ten Hag wants to have a fit and happy squad he will have to rotate his starting eleven in a smart and efficient manner.
United lost a significant amount of depth to their squad this summer and looked in dire need of incomings. With the 6 signings we’ve made so far, it looks like the squad is in better shape than 2 months ago. Though far from perfect, it will be interesting to see how Ten Hag utilizes his entire squad with United having to play 50-60 games this year.
valuable hattrick of victories
Manchester United last won 3 games in a row in the league back in April of 2021. That means they went the whole of last season without doing so. A win on Thursday would go a long way in building much-needed confidence and consistency for this squad. A victory against the foxes would show that Ten Hag can push his team to results that they haven’t been used to for a while now.
It will be interesting to see if Ronaldo starts this game, or if he will even be in the squad for this game. Ten Hag has been publicly claiming that the Portuguese superstar is part of his plans but if he ends up staying, it will be riveting to see how big of a part that will prove to be. Casemiro is another one to keep an eye on since he will most likely make his full debut for the red devils. We will have to wait to see how Ten Hag will manage the game given that there is a bigger game within the next 72 hours. If United can get the victory at the King Power stadium, they will be able to go into Sunday’s game against Arsenal with much needed confidence.
