Pranav Kannan
Bournemouth could be without six key players for the Manchester United clash
Bournemouth welcome Manchester United to the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League later today but Andoni Iraola could be without six key players as he looks to cause an upset and get one over Erik ten Hag.
Fresh off winning the Manager of the Month for March, Iraola will be confident coming into this Red Devils clash especially at home. Man Utd have not been unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination this season, and have been quite suscept defensively.
In recent weeks, Erik ten Hag has set his team up in a way where they play expansive football. Rather, they go a step beyond expansive football and go all-out attack without actually worrying about a very crucial part of football – defending.
Iraola is a smart enough tactician to see right through Erik ten Hag’s tactical setup. The only issue for the Cherries is that they might have to do this without as many as six key names in the team, which only makes the task herculean.
Antoine Semenyo, Marcus Tavernier, Ryan Fredericks and Luis Sinisterra are expected to miss the game against the Red Devils. Tyler Adams and Chris Mepham who were initially mentioned as doubts will not feature either. Full report here.
Nobody understands the hardships of missing out on key players better than Erik ten Hag this season. For almost the entirety of this season, the Dutch manager has hardly had a defence to call upon and that continues to be the case.
Manchester United will be without Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Victor Lindelof in defence. Scott McTominay is also expected to miss this game. No one remembers the last time we saw Anthony Martial on the football pitch. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford is a doubt and could be a late call ahead of this game.
Luckily for Man Utd, Willy Kambwala showed last week against Liverpool that he has what it takes to play at this level. Not for a minute in that game did he look out of place and should continue alongside Harry Maguire in defence.
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The pressure is mounting on Erik ten Hag to find favourable results in the Premier League. The fact that Man Utd fans celebrated the point against Liverpool like they had won the Championships shows how far this club has fallen behind. A victory over the Cherries would be the perfect ‘papering the cracks’ moment that has been synonymous with ETH’s time here. A loss here though could end up being one of the final nails in his coffin, if not the final one.
