Manchester United epitomized the “tale of two halves” cliche yesterday, getting dominated by West Ham in the first, but turning the game completely on its head in the second. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford on at half time, and it made all the difference as United came back from a goal down to win 3-1 at the London Stadium.
Little to no time to reflect on that however, as the next match will be here in about 48 hours.
Manchester United vs RB Leipzig UCL Group Stage FYIs
Kickoff: Tue. Dec. 8, 8pm BST, Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
UCL Form Guide:ย United LWLWWย ย Leipzig WLWLW
Press conference videos and quotes: coming Monday
โThereโs a game already on Tuesday [vs RB Leipzig],” said Solskajer.
“Itโll probably be [like this] this year. Some games we have to do without players and Iโm glad we’ve got the substitutions we have.โ
When United travel to RB Leipzig they’ll need at least a point to go through to the UCL knockout round.
Both sides, along with Paris Saint-Germain, are level on nine points in the Group H standings, with the visitors sitting on top of the table via goal difference, while the hosts reside in 3rd.
Leipzig, who will need a win to advance to the round of 16, brings a whole lot of quality and depth, including Angelino and USA international Tyler Adams. They’ll be without the services of five players: Benjamin Henrichs, Hwang Hee-chan, Lukas Klostermann, Konrad Laimer and Fabrice Hartmann.
Turning to the English side, midfielder Fred is suspended while defenders Luke Shaw and Phil Jones remain out as long term injury absentees. Goalkeeper David de Gea missed out of the win over the Irons with knee pain, but the way Solskjaer has spoken of the situation, it sounds like he could be back for this one.
With regards to forwards Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial, both were forced off in the win over the Hammers yesterday, and OGS is sweating on the fitness of the pair heading into this one.
“We lost Anthony and Edinson,” the Norwegian said.
“They’re not bad ones (injuries) hopefully. We’ll do scans and hopefully they’ll be available soon.”
Manchester United 2, RB Leipzig 1
Given that the reverse fixture was a 5-0 rout in favor of United, one would definitely expect the Red Devils to take all three points here.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank, partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author ofย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ has regularly appeared inย WGN,ย Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribuneย andย SB Nation.ย Follow himย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.
