Manchester United returned to winning ways in midweek, and but for a comical miss from Anthony Martial and the crossbar denying Marcus Rashford a goal of the season contender, they would have done so in some style too.
If they are to keep the Premier League title race alive, however, it’s imperative that they continue to build a run of victories, and that quest continues this weekend against West Brom.
The Baggies have been steady since new manager Alan Pardew replaced Tony Pulis, but remain without a Premier League win since August. With 4 draws in their last 5 games, however, what is clear is that they will be no pushovers.
With that in mind, it’s vital that José Mourinho gets his team selection right. This is the XI we expect him to go with:
| PLAYER | % MINS PLD | GLS | AST. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| de Gea | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 | |
| Antonio Va | 2 | 0 | 4 / 0 | |
| Smalling | 1 | 0 | 2 / 0 | |
| Jones | 0 | 0 | 1 / 0 | |
| Young | 2 | 3 | 5 / 0 | |
| Herrera | 0 | 1 | 4 / 0 | |
| Matic | 0 | 1 | 0 / 0 | |
| Rashford | 9 | 6 | 1 / 0 | |
| Lingard | 6 | 4 | 2 / 0 | |
| Martial | 8 | 6 | 1 / 0 | |
| Lukaku | 13 | 4 | 2 / 0 | |
| Totals | 41 | 25 | 22 / 0 |
| LINE-UP AVERAGES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL PREMIER LEAGUE EXPERIENCE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Chris Smalling and Phil Jones look set to partner in defense for what would be the 70th time in a Manchester United shirt, bringing a familiarity to a back 4 which still contains 2 players who have spent much of their careers playing further up the pitch.
Scott McTominay impressed in midfield in midweek but looks set to be replaced by the more senior figures of Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matić. With both of them starting, United concede less than a goal per game on average.
Romelu Lukaku returned to scoring ways in midweek with a commanding header, and he looks set to once again hold off the challenge of a fit again Zlatan Ibrahimović to keep his place in the starting XI.
Overall, it’s an incredibly strong United side and one that has every chance of overcoming West Brom. With odds of 25/1 available to new Betfair customers, it really is where the smart money is heading on this one.
This is backed up further in KickOff’s all-new Acca Smacker (below), which uses our unique predictive algorithm to give United a 63% chance of claiming victory, a genuinely impressive tally for an away side.
Flick over to the ‘Pro Stats’ tab, and United’s cause is boosted even further. Using 18 key data points, 9 attacking and 9 defensive, from the past 10 games for each side, KickOff compares the two sides and finds that United come out on top in 17 of them.
All in all, if there were ever a safe looking away win, this is it.
One Comment
same was said about the spurs away match and the Liverpool away match…dodgy game this predicting lark.