Abhranil Roy
Manchester United will be looking to end a 5 match winless run that has seen them knocked out of the Champions League group stage and slip six points of league leaders Leicester City when they face a struggling Norwich side, who are placed at 18th position on the table at Old Trafford tomorrow. Louis van Gaal has come under severe pressure since the away defeat to Bournemouth last week, and has stated that the only way to deal with the mounting criticism is to win the game tomorrow.
TEAM NEWS
Wayne Rooney, Ander Herrera and Chris Smalling all have trained for the full week. Ashley Young is progressing but Jesse Lingard and Matteo Darmian are injured. Bastian Schweinseiger will be out as well because of his 3 match ban.
Norwich will be without on-loan Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom (hamstring) and midfielder Matt Jarvis (knee). Goalkeeper John Ruddy is available for selection as the club continues an internal investigation into his involvement in a late-night fracas at a city-centre taxi rank, but Declan Rudd is expected to again be first choice at Old Trafford.
STAT ATTACK
* United are the only side in the top flight yet to lose at home and have conceded just one goal in nine league matches at Old Trafford.
* Norwich have lost 4-0 on each of their last three visits to Old Traffordand have won just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions.
* Wayne Rooney could return to make his 500th Man Utd appearance.
* Old Trafford is the stadium to have seen the fewest goals scored in the Premier League so far this season (10).
* This match pits the team with the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season (Man United – nine) against the team with the fewest (Norwich City – one).
Stats via skysports.
Possible Lineups:
Man United: De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson; Schneiderlin, Carrick; Mata, Rooney, Depay; Martial.
Norwich: Rudd; Wisdom, Martin, Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, O’Neil, Tettey, Brady; Hoolahan; Jerome.
PREDICTION:
We predict a 2-0 win to United, and hope that we finally get our season going.
