Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their shock defeat over the weekend to West Ham United when they host Spanish outfit Valencia on MD2 in the Champions League. The Red Devils were beaten 3-1 by the fourth from bottom Hammers at the London Stadium, a result that saw them slip to 10th in the league standings, nine points behind local rivals and leaders Manchester City.
Manager Jose Mourinho’s tactics at the London Stadium left fans and pundits baffled. He went for 3 at the back, but that defensive trio included midfielder Scott McTominay being played out of position – not too unlike the time he played Ander Herrera at centre back in the loss to Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season.
It was even more bizarre because he had a natural centre back in Eric Bailly on the bench, and even when he had to substitute a defender in order to bring on Marcus Rashford, he hooked Victor Lindelof and not McTominay. The young medio also had an unwitting role to play in West Ham’s first goal- it was he who kept Pablo Zabaleta onside in the move that eventually resulted in Felipe Anderson scoring.
West Ham’s second goal had a piece of luck, with Andriy Yarmolenko’s shot taking a deflection off Lindelof, but Mourinho would not have been pleased with the fact that his players did not actively seek to close down the Ukrainian in the box. He would’ve been even more unhappy with the defending for the third, with Marko Arnautovic having all the space in the world to collect a pass from Mark Noble and shoot past the helpless David de Gea. It was not the kind of defending one would associate with a United side, and most certainly not a Mourinho side, which have historically been known to be defensively solid.
While United are on a three game winless streak, Valencia aren’t faring too much better either. Los Che had a poor September, drawing four league games and losing to Juventus in the Champions League before managing a much needed win away at Sociedad last weekend. That would explain the 43/10 odds for the visitors on the free bets website- the Red Devils, despite their struggles, are expected to see off the challenge of Marcelino’s men.
United are 4/5 to triumph at Old Trafford following their win away in Switzerland against Young Boys on MD1. If they do not win, the odds on Mourinho getting the sack could get shortened- the Special One is currently at 8/11 to be the next Premier League managerial casualty.
Valencia have won only one of their ten Champions League games against English opposition, and that was against Liverpool back in 2002. This is the first meeting between United and Valencia since 2010– the Red Devils have never lost to Los Che in the modern Champions League era. Juventus and Young Boys are the other two sides in this group, with the Old Lady set to be United’s opponents in MD3. VCF are also on a four game losing streak in the Champions League- among Spanish sides, only Real Sociedad and Villarreal have suffered a longer streak of defeats in the competition.
Will the new month bring about a change in Jose Mourinho’s fortunes? The referee for this game is Slavko Vincic. In the last 12 games officiated by the Slovenian, the home side has lost only once, and that is good news for United.
Man Utd v Valencia CF kicks off at 20.00 BST