Defeat. Defeat is probably next for United and Ruben Amorim as in form Newcastle travel to Old Trafford to take on an MUFC side down in the dumps.
Survival is the option for the moment says the United boss but with a team low on confidence, lacking quality, leaking goals, not scoring, leaderless and with issues off the field, I don’t know whether we can survive.
But can we pull off something unexpected?
Predicted Lineup
No Bruno and no Ugarte, who serve a one-game suspension, means we are weaker and in a spot of bother because their replacements aren’t at the level required.
I’m sure De Ligt is available again after missing the last two games through illness so I would see him come in for Yoro meaning that the trio that worked well in the derby makes a return.
Dalot and Mazraoui have to stay out wide as Malacia doesn’t seem good enough at the moment.
Casemiro will have to replace Ugarte and I can see Eriksen being paired with him although I would expect Mainoo to start.
Amad will continue as number 10 despite him being better as right wing-back but without Bruno, there is little other option. Garnacho is the other CAM that I’ve selected but he looks out of favor under Amorim as well. He also doesn’t work as a number 10 anyway.
With Hojlund starting the last game, I could see Zirkzee make a return to the starting XI tomorrow as part of the manager's usual rotation. Unfortunately though, at the moment, neither striker is good enough to lead the line at the moment though.
Approach
Don’t get fucked up.
Honestly, I don’t know how else we can approach this one.
I know that Amorim will continue to stick with his plan which is what we all want but as the players aren’t good enough for it, it really makes things difficult to say how he can approach this and get the win whilst playing his style.
What I can’t understand is that in two tough away games at Arsenal and City, we did manage to implement his style to a point where we actually looked like a decent football team.
The possession was good, how we moved the ball around was great, we recovered it quickly with the only thing missing being that chance creation. But we’d sacrifice that knowing that we can see steps in the right direction in terms of playing Amorim ball.
After the derby though, all that went out the window.
Three losses in three, terrible football, even worse mistakes and we haven’t scored a goal in two games. We’re without our captain who many wouldn’t mind (including myself) but, and this tells you how bad we truly are, is that while Bruno has been dire and needs to be benched (or sold as some would prefer) United somehow look worse in his absence.
The game against Forest was a good example as United appeared rudderless without their skipper. The influence he has on the team is tenfold whether for good or ill.
But more importantly in my opinion, we will also be without Ugarte. This is the one. This is the one.
He has had a big impact on the team especially since Amorim’s arrival. The Uruguayan looks a cut above the rest under his former manager and is our best midfielder at the moment.
Without him, I fear that our midfield will be completely overrun causing us to lose that battle and subsequently, lose the game. Casemiro is nowhere near as good as Ugarte at the moment, Eriksen is no CDM and Mainoo hasn’t been at his best either, nor can he play as the number 6.
This will be a big miss.
I doubt there will be many clear-cut chances created by United. Even if there were, there’s few who would take them.
And there’s of course, the issue from set pieces. I don’t need to tell you about those.
We’re so screwed 😕.
Form
Back-to-back losses for the second time in the league in just 7 PL matches for Amorim; 0 goals scored in the last two; 9 conceded in the last three in all comps; 25 (or so) cockups in the last few games; and we’ve now sunk to 14th in the table.
Good lord!
Our points total of 22 is 16 more than Southampton at the bottom and 20 fewer than Liverpool at the top. But more importantly, we are 12 points behind 4th and 8 points ahead of the drop zone.
We’re in a relegation battle!
United have only won one (the derby) of the last five and lost the other four. Goal difference is back down to -3 and we’ve kept no clean sheet since the Everton win which was the only shut out we’ve had under Amorim in the league.
Yeah, this be another loss 👎.
Newcastle
The Magpies have had a very up and down season thus far but there have been more ups than downs in recent games as United seem to be catching Howe and co at the wrong time.
Newcastle are in 5th just 5 points behind Forest in 4th. They’ve won their last three in a row scoring 11 and conceding none. By contrast, in United’s last three we’ve scored 2 and conceded 6 🙃.
Howe’s side are also doing pretty well on the road as they are 7th in the away table with 12 points from nine games: three draws, three wins, three losses.
Alexander Isak is one of the top scorers in the league with 11 goals. The Swede has scored in five games in a row including a hat-trick in Newcastle’s 4-0 win at Ipswich.
With the height they possess, the ever-present frailty of United from crosses will definitely be an area to exploit for Howe.
Recent Meetings
This fixture last season was a good one for us as we beat the Magpies 3-2 towards the end of the campaign.
However, that was the only win in our last five in the league against them. The other two were draws and wins for our opponents.
Prediction
I think I’ve already made it clear on several occasions that I think we’ll lose.
I can see Newcastle getting a comfortable 2-0 win. Hell, they may score even more 🤷♂️.
One thing’s for certain though, defeat is inevitable.
Background Image: Casemiro to make his first start for Man Utd since Viktoria Plzen on 12 December | Creator: Nathan Stirk | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News