Everton will look to pick up their first Premier League win of the season when they host Watford at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Toffees had to make do with a point on the opening day of the campaign following a goalless draw away at Crystal Palace, and they may well have been satisfied with that given Morgan Schneiderlin’s second-half dismissal left them with 10 men on the pitch.
Now manager Marco Silva comes up against his former employers, and he has Schneiderlin’s suspension, as well as Andre Gomes being a doubt after he was forced off just before half-time at Selhurst Park, to contend with.
Here is the team we think he will select this weekend…
The back five pretty much picks itself right now – especially after an opening day clean sheet – with Lucas Digne, Michael Keane and Yerry Mina’s spots all pretty secure given the lack of depth in their particular positions.
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Djibril Sidibe could soon push Seamus Coleman for the right-back spot, but it won’t happen against the Hornets.
In midfield, it will be a completely different central duo to the one that started against Palace, with Tom Davies and summer arrival Jean-Philippe Gbamin coming into the XI in place of Schneiderlin and Gomes, with Fabian Delph still unavailable.
Ahead of them, Gylfi Sigurdsson keeps his place in the No.10 role despite coming under criticism from fans on Twitter for his display against Roy Hodgson’s men last time out, with Richarlison on the right.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin also keeps his spot ahead of Moise Kean who is still adapting to life in English football, but there is a debut for another new boy in Alex Iwobi, who comes in to replace Bernard on the left wing.
It will be interesting to see how the former Arsenal man fares should he get the nod.
أفادت تقارير صحفية إنجليزية، أن نادي مانشستر يونايتد سيجد صعوبة في التعاقد مع الدولي النرويجي، إيرلينج هالاند مهاجم بوروسيا دورتموند الألماني.
هالاند يتألق هذا الموسم مع بوروسيا دورتموند، وتمكن من تسجيل هدفين في ذهاب دور الـ 16 من دوري أبطال أوروبا أمام إشبيلية.
طالع أيضًا.. ماركا: ريال مدريد رفض ضم هالاند مقابل 8 ملايين يورو في 2019!
صحيفة “ميرور” الإنجليزية، قات إن مينو رايولا وكيل اللاعب النرويجي، علاقته ليست جيدة مع إدارة مانشستر يونايتد.
علاقة رايولا السيئة مع مانشستر يونايتد، كانت بدايتها بعد الجدل الدائر حول بول بوجبا ومستقبله في النادي الإنجليزي، وتصريحات مينو الذي أكد فيها بأن موكله الفرنسي يبحث عن تجربه جديدة.
وأشارت إلى أن هذه هي المشكلة الوحيدة التي تواجه مانشستر يونايتد، خاصة وأن النادي يمكنه تحمل تكاليف صفقة هالاند، ولا عقبة في ذلك.
جدير بالذكر أن هالاند لعب تحت قيادة سولشاير من قبل، في نادي مولدي، ويسعى مواطنه لضمه إلى ملعب أولد ترافورد.
Sky Italia report via Sky Sports that Manchester United are plotting a £72m bid for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who enjoyed another impressive season with Lazio in 2018/19, scoring five goals and chalking up three assists from midfield.
The Red Devils have already spent pretty big this summer, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka arriving from Crystal Palace for £50m and £15m-rated Daniel James trading the Liberty Stadium for Old Trafford, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer isn’t done there – departures in 2019, including Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera, have left the Norwegian short of options in midfield.
Spaniard Herrera joined PSG after the expiry of his contract with United despite having been the 13-time Premier League winners’ second-best performer last term, averaging a 6.96 rating according to WhoScored.
The task of replacing the former Athletic Bilbao man’s well-roundedness in the middle of the park is neither enviable or cheap and, if the Serb is the player Solskjaer wants, Milinkovic-Savic has some key improvements to make if he is to be a suitable replacement. Read on to find out the three key stats which expose the 24-year-old’s shortcomings…
Tackles
In this department, Herrera blew his United competition out of the water last term, completing an impressive 2.5 tackles per game – Matteo Darmian comes close with 2.3, although the Italian managed just five league starts. Even Nemanja Matic, whom Jose Mourinho described as “everything we want in a footballer”, averaged a measly-in-comparison 1.8 tackles per game – he’s the defensive hub of the team!
How did Matic’s countryman, Milinkovic-Savic, fare in this area of the game then? Well, he recorded 1.4 tackles per game and, while this isn’t key to his style, it’s crucial that he makes improvements in this area if he is to even replace Herrera, let alone be an upgrade on the 29-year-old.
Interceptions
Soccer Football – Europa League Round of 32 First Leg – Steaua Bucharest vs Lazio – National Arena, Bucharest, Romania – February 15, 2018 Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic looks dejected Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS ROMANIA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ROMANIA THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
If the 6 foot 3 powerhouse’s tackling needs some work, then he should be putting plenty of hours into improving his ability to intercept the ball, too – the 20-cap international cuts out a pass just 0.9 times per game, whereas Herrera did so 1.7 times per game last term.
The PSG new boy is excellent at reading the game, with his ‘ball interception’ and ‘defensive contribution’ both listed as ‘Very Strong’ by WhoScored – he shares the latter with Milinkovic-Savic, but the Spanish-born star’s numbers don’t come close to Herrera’s.
Of course, given that the gigantic midfielder has Lucas Leiva, who completes an astonishing 3.4 tackles and 2 interceptions per game, behind him at Lazio, there is less of a requirement for Milinkovic-Savic to help his team out on the back foot – with Paul Pogba thriving given freedom of the field at Old Trafford, though, ‘Sergej’ will have to get used to getting his hands dirty should he sign for United this summer.
Passing accuracy
Herrera is far from being just an enforcer, with the 6 footer averaging a healthy passing success rate of 87.8% last term – the fourth-highest of all Red Devils players – and this is an area in which Milinkovic-Savic suffers, as the Biancocelesti number 21 finds a teammate with just 79% of his attempted passes. Had he played for United last season, this figure would place him below even Fellaini, according to WhoScored.
If you think the rumoured £80m for Harry Maguire is too much, check out how much his potential replacement will cost in the video below…
What Milinkovic-Savic does excel at, though, is playing the passes that matter – the Serb completed 1.5 key passes per game last campaign, whereas Herrera managed 0.7.
There is little doubt that the former Genk man offers far more on the front foot – he takes more shots, completes more dribbles and is fouled more often (according to WhoScored) but, if he is indeed to replace Herrera, then these weaker areas of his game need fixing.
Olympique Lyonnais star Moussa Dembele will be on Manchester United’s shortlist of centre-forwards should Romelu Lukaku leave for Internazionale, according to Sky Sports News.
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United are willing to sell Lukaku, however, after rejecting a £54m bid from Inter, are waiting for the right price.
Talks between Inter and the Old Trafford giants have reached a stalemate, with the Italian club wary they must meet financial fair play rules to move for the Belgian forward.
Dembele is seen as a centre-forward as opposed to Nicolas Pepe, who the club have also been linked with, who is seen as a winger.
Links with Dembele would make sense, given the realism over signing the forward as opposed to other targets. Earlier in the summer’s transfer window, Manchester United were linked with a move for Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The links were shot down immediately with Unai Emery saying he won’t be willing to sell the striker.
You can see why Manchester United would put Dembele on their shortlist for strikers to sign after the last few seasons the France youth international has had. In the past three seasons, Dembele has scored a massive 71 goals in all competitions for both Celtic and Lyon.
Looking at the current lack of forwards in the transfer market, you could argue that Dembele represents both the most realistic and best option for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
As mentioned above, any deal for Aubameyang has already been shot down.
So we come back full circle to Dembele, and after looking at his goalscoring record in two different leagues in Europe, he looks to be the natural goalscorer who can fill the potential void left by Lukaku.
Manchester United fans, would Dembele be a good replacement for Lukaku? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Speaking to Betfair, Brazil legend Rivaldo has told Fred to stay at Manchester United and fight for his place.
What did he say?
Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the midfielder could be set for an Old Trafford exit this summer after enduring a rather difficult campaign.
However, Rivaldo has now insisted that it wouldn’t be the right decision for him to leave the club and instead urged him to showcase his true abilities.
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He said: “Things haven’t been easy for Fred at Manchester United and some people say he should find another club. But I disagree with that. He is a good player who needs to be patient and keep working hard to earn a starting position in the United midfield. I don’t think leaving would solve his problems, and it would be preferable to stay and keep fighting for his place.”
A point to prove
There’s no doubting that since his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk last summer, Fred has failed to really live up to the potential that heralded his arrival. The 26-year-old joined the Red Devils in a reported £47m deal amid claims that United’s rivals Manchester City were keen to take him to the Etihad.
But in a rather underwhelming campaign, the midfielder managed just a goal and assist apiece in 26 games across all competitions, and found himself on the periphery of United’s season.
However, the Brazilian could put that down to simply trying to adjust to the pace and physicality of English football, and if he can return to the sort of form that marked him out as an impressive player at Shakhtar, then there is no doubting he can still succeed at Old Trafford.
Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…
In the season before his move to United, the 26-year-old averaged 2.9 tackles and 2.3 dribbles per game in the Champions League for Shakhtar; the kind of all-action displays United could do with in the middle of the park. As Rivaldo says, if Fred can knuckle down and really kick on his second season in the Premier League, he could become one of those cliche ‘like a new signing’ players at Old Trafford next season.
Having arrived as a major coup from Arsenal, it’s fair to say Alexis Sanchez’s hasn’t quite delivered on expectations at Manchester United.
The Chile international has suffered from a loss of form and numerous injuries, and reports in recent weeks had even suggested he could be set for a move away from Old Trafford.
However, speaking in his pre-Chelsea press conference, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed he expects the 30-year-old to stay at the club for the foreseeable future and backed him to make his mark as a striker.
After hearing the update about the Chilean’s future, United fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on Solskjaer’s revelation.
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Many threw their backing behind the decision to hand Sanchez another chance at the club and urged their fellow fans to have “patience”.
Others however insisted the former Arsenal star’s career at Old Trafford is done and blamed Solskjaer for trying to suggest otherwise.
Check out some of the divided reaction of United fans below:
Crystal Palace welcome Colchester to Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening in what will be the Eagles’ first Carabao Cup action of the season.
Spirits will certainly be high in the Palace squad after they managed to pull off a historic win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, managing to beat the Red Devils in the Premier League for the first time whilst also becoming the first team to score a stoppage time winner against them on their own turf.
For the game against the League Two side, however, we think Roy Hodgson should make a few changes…
With all due respect, the difference in quality between Manchester United and Colchester is substantial, so Hodgson should be able to afford some game time to those who haven’t got much under their belt yet this season.
With that in mind, we think Wayne Hennessey should be handed his first appearance of the campaign, along with 20-year-old centre-back Sam Woods, who made his first-team debut in this competition against Middlesbrough last term.
Alongside him, a man who impressed the Palace fans on Twitter after making his debut for the club in Gary Cahill would benefit from a start once again in order to build up his match fitness, having not had a proper pre-season whilst being a free agent.
Ahead of them, Hodgson should hand full debuts to two more summer signings in James McCarthy and Victor Camarasa – the former has made two substitute appearances, whilst Camarasa is yet to appear.
In attack, Andros Townsend should start after being placed on the bench against United, along with Connor Wickham and Max Meyer who also sat next to the England international in the Old Trafford dugout.
On the left, we think Hodgson should hand 20-year-old Jason Lokilo a start against Colchester to see what he can do in the first-team, after some fans on Twitter called for him to be involved following his delightful assist in a 1-0 win for the Under-23 side last week.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal recently did an interview for Radio Marca and Cope’s El Partidazo and he talked about the team’s struggles, some transfer news and about everyone’s expectations of Los Blancos.
But one particular quote from the whole interview really did explain Real Madrid’s current situation and their troubles over the weekend rather perfectly. Here’s what he said:
“There’s always talk of a revolution, but at a team like Real Madrid, where everyone wants to be and not everyone wants to leave, it’s not easy.
“People might think that we’ve drawn two times in three games so the ghosts of last year are returning. But the feeling on the inside isn’t bad.
“It’s true that we need to be more blunt in attack and defence, but we’ll do big things again.”
And this is really the gist of the whole issue: a revolution is expected because Real Madrid are struggling on the pitch.
We are only three games into the new season and, granted, the results could’ve been better, but everyone has been too eager to write the Galacticos off without giving them some time.
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Maybe a revolution is indeed what they are craving but, as Carvajal put it himself, that is rather difficult to achieve at a club of Real Madrid’s size.
The squad, however, need to be given time to find their groove once again and with Zidane at the helm, we know they’re capable of those “big things” the 27-year-old is talking about.
Everyone is screaming for a revolution and no one seems to understand it’s impossible to achieve one overnight.
Not only has Carvajal hit the nail squarely on the head with that one in regard to Real’s latest fixture, but it’s largely true for their current situation as a whole.