New Manchester United boss OIe Gunnar Solskjaer resumes his adventure as a manager in England right where it ended a few years ago: at Cardiff. The Norwegian returns at Cardiff City Stadium in charge of Manchester United on Saturday, after being sacked by Cardiff in 2014. Cardiff did manage to grab a 2-2 home draw against Manchester United in the 2013-2014 season, but that was before the arrival of Solskjaer. The reverse fixture, with Solskjaer in charge of Cardiff, was won by Manchester United 2-0. The last victory for Cardiff against Manchester United was all the way back in 1960.
Cardiff have been recording great results at home lately, they have won four of their last five home matches and the last three in a row. That string of good results lifted them just above the relegation zone, but they are just two points above it and a couple of consecutive defeats would surely see them slide right back into the danger area. Last week they tried an unlikely fightback at Watford, they were 3-0 down after 68 minutes and managed to score twice in the final ten minutes of the game. Left-backs Joe Bennett and Greg Cunningham are both injury doubts for the home side, while Jazz Richards is sidelined.
Manchester United are ready to start fresh, they sacked Jose Mourinho after the 3-1 derby defeat at Liverpool last weekend and have appointed former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their manager until the end of the season. The 45-year-old Norwegian will be determined to make the most out of this opportunity, and he definitely has good enough players to succeed. Alexis Sanchez and Marcos Rojo remain on the injured list, but Solskjaer will definitely employ Paul Pogba in midfield after the French star was benched by Mourinho. Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw are injury doubts ahead of this match.
Probable line-ups:
Cardiff: Etheridge - Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett - Hoilett, Camarasa, Gunnarsson, Arter, Murphy - Paterson
Man United: De Gea - Valencia, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw - Herrera, Matic, Pogba - Rashford, Lukaku, Martial
My prediction: Manchester United to win 3-1, I expect the Red Devils to play better football after being liberated from Mourinho.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Cardiff win - 6.50
Draw - 4.20
Man United win - 1.57
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Comments (1)
sharpe
12/23/18, 03:12:09 PM
We saw a completely different United from we've what use to seen by the Mourinho's team not just this season but generally. The players looked to be creative and...
We saw a completely different United from we've what use to seen by the Mourinho's team not just this season but generally. The players looked to be creative and inspired and no wonder after the so negative defensive style that the Portuguese implemented at the side but that's over now and we could only hope united would continue to play such a stile under Solskjaer. It's too early for the fans getting over exited though.
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