Patrick Rees
After a successful start to the new season, the red half of Manchester, Manchester United, will now be preparing themselves for the next showdown of the season. This time around, the side will be travelling to KCOM stadium to face the all confident, newly promoted Premier League side, Hull City.
The Tigers kicked their new season in style as they defeated the Premier League champions Leicester City on the opening day of the season, and that followed by a victory over the fellow Premier League club, Swansea City. Mike Phelan’s men are currently hitting a top form as they have won five of their last six games, in all competition.
Furthermore, Manchester United too had a great start to the season as they comfortably defeated the Cherries on the opening day and soon after that, a wonderful performance at the Old Trafford earned them an impressive victory over the South Coast club, Southampton. Well, looking at the recent form, Manchester United have won 5 of their last six games, which also includes the friendly tour.
Here is the predicted lineup for Manchester United, who can give Hull City a run for their money:
Goalkeeper: David De Gea-
Absolutely no doubt about this, isn’t it? The Spanish shot-stopper will be the only choice for the manager in the fixture. Thanks to a stern defence, De Gea do not really have many worries in the past two games, but looking at Hull City’s recent form, he might get tested this time around.
Defence: Valencia; Bailly; Smalling; Shaw-
Antonio Valencia has really improved himself in the recent weeks. Although United have a natural right back in the form of Matteo Darmian at their stake, the manager will surely be using the Ecuadorian skipper this time. The versatile star has already named four assists to his name(in the pre-season), including that one for Ibrahimovic’s goal in the Community shield, hence, it is a clear indication that his form is coming back to life.
On the other flank, United will surely line their young gun, Luke Shaw. The Englishman, till now, has impressed everyone with his attacking prowess and at this very young age, he has cemented his starting role into the United’s squad.
For the central back pairing, the manager, this time, might introduce Chris Smalling alongside Eric Bailly. The 22-year-old has performed like a rock for the club and has already being named as the man of the match twice. On the other hand, Chris Smalling hasn’t started a game for Mourinho until now, and this might be the time, he might get his chance.
Holding midfield: Schneiderlin; Pogba-
For this game, the manager might go with an all-French midfield. Players like Fellaini and Ander Herrera has really impressed the audiences, but the manager himself has stated that he has some top quality midfielder by his side and everyone will have their chance, hence, we might see Morgan Schneiderlin this time around, playing as a defensive midfielder.
In the central zone, the manager might again use the new signing, Paul Pogba. The former Juventus man gave a great display at the Old Trafford last time out and was all over the pitch. Well, a same kind of performance will be expected from the midfielder at the KCOMstadium as well.
Attacking Trio: Mkhitaryan; Rooney; Martial-
We might see a slight, yet very effective change in the attacking trio this time around. For the past couple of games, Jose Mourinho has rightly dropped Henrikh Mkhitaryan from the starting lineup. And he did have a perfect explanation for it:
“Options,” the boss said. “I was reading the game against Leicester and I felt that we needed the speed of Jesse Lingard and, in the game against Bournemouth, that [Juan] Mata would help guard against their pressing really high. He could reach some spaces behind the line of the pressure and could be very useful for us.
“I decided to play [Wayne] Rooney in both games, close to Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], and I didn’t start with Micki. When some managers buy players, they feel they have to protect their choices by playing the player all the time – I am not like this. Before me, comes the team and what I think is best for the team.”
But this time around, we might see the Armenian in the lineup alongside Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial. The Englishman, who assisted United’s first goal against Southampton, will be a number 10 man, while the French winger will be doing his duties from his usual left flank.
Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic-
Two games; three goals. Well, this is what we expected from the Big Swede in the Premier League. The 34-year-old has defied all his odds, and has been a standout performer for the side. His performances are worth praising and his desire to play for the club is something that will please all the United fans and with the players like Mkhi, Rooney and Martial at his back, more goals are yet to come.
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