Manchester United go in search of their first league win in four matches when they take on Tottenham at Old Trafford this weekend. The club were boosted by the return of defender Eric Bailly, who started the game against Zorya in the Europa League. The Ivory Coast star is set to make his first start for United since the 4-0 defeat against Chelsea. He was partnered by Marcos Rojo for the Europa League encounter with Daley Blind moving to left back.
Bailly did seem to suffer a serious injury in the match against Zorya, as he was seen in serious pain towards the end of the game. However, he has made sufficient recovery to be part of the squad for the game against Tottenham.
The return of Bailly for this important game will be a welcome addition for United. However, Mourinho will not be able to rejoice for long as Bailly will be joining up with Ivory Coast for the month-long 2017 African Cup of Nations. Mourinho admitted that the loss of the 22-year-old for up to a month will be difficult to cope, and he is counting on the return of Smalling in order to tide over the crisis. As quoted by Manchester United’s official website, he said:
“Let’s hope Smalling can recover in time to replace him in the squad because, with so many matches, we need players. At the moment, we have Phil Jones, Bailly and Marcos Rojo [as centre-backs]. We play Tottenham, West Brom and Reading, West Ham away [among others] – in that period we have a lot of matches and it is important to have players.”
The major team news ahead of the weekend’s game is the lack of Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw once again, as the manager confirmed their absence by saying “not Sunday, no”. The English duo has not been seen in the United colours for quite a while. Smalling’s last game was the loss against Chelsea, while Shaw played 45 minutes in the EFL Cup victory against West Ham towards the end of November.
United’s form has been excellent in terms of cup competitions after winning the last three games. However, it is a different story with regard to the league as they have managed just one in the last eight matches. Such a poor run of form has seen them fall out of the title race, as admitted by José Mourinho, while their top four ambitions are also taking a serious hit.
Wayne Rooney’s return, after a one-match suspension, will be a major boost to the team. Even then, it is a significant possibility that he may start the game on the bench. There could be a rare start in the Premier League for playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who came up with an impressive goal against the Ukrainians on Thursday. The biggest positive for the club will be the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored his seventh goal in his last six appearances for United.
“We expect more goals from him but we expect more goals from everyone,” added Mourinho. “Maybe Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] is the one [main goal threat] but maybe, as the main striker, it’s normal he has scored more goals.”
Ibrahimovic has certainly come back to form and the timing could not have been better. Even though he has four goals in his last four league appearances, only one match has finished as a win.
