Manchester United vs Swansea City
Date: 31/03/18
K/O: 15:00pm
Venue: Old Trafford
Referee: Bobby Madley
Manchester United and Swansea City clash at Old Trafford this Saturday, as both teams desperately search for momentum going into the final weeks of the season.
While United and Mourinho need to secure 2nd in the league (and win the FA Cup on the side) to convince their fans that progress is indeed happening, Swansea need points from everywhere and anywhere to help confirm their Premier League status.
Embed from Getty ImagesFor Manchester United, the inquest surrounding their loss to Sevilla in the Champions League still looms large. The team made headlines for their slow and ponderous style of play in that game, which seems so far away from their early league style and form, which included United beating their Saturday opponents 4-0 in only their second game of the season.
They were fast, ruthless and entertaining in that encounter, and that style of play saw them score ten goals in their first three league games of the season. After recent performances such emphatic wins seem but a distant memory, and yet United will be at least four points safely in second place if they beat Swansea in Saturday’s game. Despite every criticism thrown at Mourinho and his team, consistent passage into the Champions League is a luxury not afforded since the days of Ferguson, and in this ever competitive league, is not to be dismissed lightly.
This is the first of three extremely tough games in Swansea’s final seven fixtures, with a trip to Manchester City and a visit from Chelsea awaiting them a few weeks after Saturday. Perhaps, due to United’s insipid Champions League exit, Swansea will regard this as the easiest of the three, though they will be wise to remember the excellent defeat of Liverpool that took place at Old Trafford only a week before the Manchester gloom began.
Embed from Getty ImagesRegardless of result, Carvalhal has shown an excellent knack of keeping morale in the squad high and any defeat suffered here would be immediately dismissed, with sights firmly set upon the crucial game against West Brom in just a week’s time. Losing is not a luxury that a relegation-threatened team can just accept, especially this close to the end of the season, but with huge games against precariously placed clubs coming up for Swansea, defeat here could almost be defined as insignificant.
Team News:
After his eye-catching performances and excellent free kick goal for France in the recent international friendlies, Paul Pogba has staked a claim for a permanent return to the starting-eleven for United, although competition for his place has never been higher. Three places are available for Mourinho to pick either Pogba, Martial, Rashford, Sanchez, Lingard or Mata, and yet with the exception of Rashford and perhaps Lingard too, none of these six have truly performed when recently entrusted with a starting place. It will be interesting to see who Mourinho picks against Swansea and if, as his continued slump in form perhaps merits, Alexis Sanchez is dropped entirely.
Embed from Getty ImagesSwansea are still frustratingly without Jordan Ayew after his straight red card against Huddersfield, with this being a game where he and his brother could have relished the counter-attacking possibilities as a dual strike force. Despite expressing confidence for Tammy Abraham to the press in midweek, for a game such as this Carvalhal may favour a more pacey partner to André Ayew, with Nathan Dyer having proved effective in a strange, yet interesting, false nine role early in the manager’s tenure. Andy King will be given another chance to impress, after the club expressed interest in making his loan stay a permanent one.
Predicted Starting XI’s:
Manchester United: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Young, McTominay, Matic, Sanchez, Pogba, Rashford, Lukaku.
Swansea: Fabianski, Fernandez, Mawson, Van der Hoorn, Olsson, Naughton, Ki Sung-Yeung, Clucas, King, A. Ayew, Dyer.
Prediction: Manchester United 2 Swansea City 1
Despite Swansea avoiding defeat in three of their last five trips to Old Trafford, and United having a European crisis so recently, it is hard to look beyond the Manchester club for this encounter. It should be reasonably close, with Swansea defending well and countering fast under Carvalhal, but it is maybe one result too far to expect them to take points away from this game.
Swansea will have confidence after the match in avoiding relegation, their confidence relatively unshaken even in defeat, while United will view games like this as a chance to stabilise, a chance to convince their fans that this is a team making progress. Regardless, it should be the case that for both teams, the successes and failures of their seasons will be decided elsewhere.
Written by Jack Hall.
22. An often foolishly optimistic Swansea City fan, writing previews and reports for 90MAAT. Currently finishing a Masters in Film at Southampton University. @apuffofJack
