The first half is now in the books, and Manchester United currently hold a 2-0 lead over Crystal Palace at the break of their 3rd round EFL Cup clash. A lot of news to cover in this one, as Erik ten Hag fielded a first team that included the likes of Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat, Facundo Pellistri, Hannibal Mejbri and Alejandro Garnacho.
We have some off the pitch news to get to later as well.
EFL Cup 3rd Round FYIs
Crystal Palace at Manchester United
Kickoff: Tue. Sept. 26 8pm, Old Trafford
United Preview Content: Starting XI Prediction Team News
CASEMIROOOOO GOAL AND MASON MOUNT ASSIST NO 007?
— AB? (@AbsoluteBruno) September 26, 2023
Let’s start with Mount, who is currently a top trending term on X (formerly Twitter) as he provided the assist to Casemiro’s goal in the 27. Take a look above; at what is Mount’s first goal involvement in a United shirt.
As for Sofyan Amrabat, he filled in nicely at the one position that is in most current injury crisis of all- left back.
How did he do?
Sofyan Amrabat’s half by numbers vs. Palace:
100% duels won
100% tackles won
97% pass accuracy
65/67 passes completed
5/6 long passes completedFlawless. ?????? pic.twitter.com/PYUQFsZtqo
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) September 26, 2023
Very well actually! How about Hannibal? His name is a top trending term as well.
Manchester United lineup tonight:
– Sofyan Amrabat Start
– Mason Mount Start
– Pellistri Start
– Hannibal Mejbri StartWe waited so long for this day pic.twitter.com/FYbbawbSrX
— Kobi (@UTDKobi) September 26, 2023
And on a side note, it was Garnacho who scored the other goal for United, in the 21. And we close with the latest on the Jadon Sancho melodrama. Ten Hag is reportedly going to hold the hard line- he wants Sancho to apologize, otherwise the player won’t be allowed to return to first team training.
The manager has, according to some reports, even gone so far as to lock Sancho out of eating with the rest of the club at the training complex.
Apologies:
Normal People vs Jadon Sancho pic.twitter.com/7fOUmOOqg4
— Ryan Silva (@RSilvaMUFC) September 26, 2023
So how does this clash of wills end? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.