Manchester United recorded a rousing 4-1 victory over Newcastle on Boxing Day but an away trip to Turf Moor on Saturday represents a rather different proposition.
Burnley have won five of their nine home games this season and while they’ve lost the other four, three of those defeats have come against high-quality sides in Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea – a 2-0 loss to Palace being the only exception.
Burnley also represent the kind of team United have struggled against this season. They’ve averaged just 43.1% possession at home yet come out victorious more often than not and teams that sit back have been a real problem during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign – Thursday’s win was just the second time United have beaten a team at Old Trafford when dominating possession.
Accordingly, it’s vital Solskjaer gets his team selection spot on this weekend, creating a side that firstly takes advantage of having the ball and secondly nullifies Burnley’s biggest threats.
With that in mind, we’ve put together the starting XI Solskjaer needs to pick to get the job done on Saturday evening…
With Scott McTominay seemingly out of action after damaging his knee ligaments against Newcastle, this feels like a natural time to bring Paul Pogba back into the fray. He’s made successive appearances from the bench after a lengthy injury of his own and having played a full half against Newcastle, he should be ready to start – although he may have to be brought off in the closing stages.
In the long-term, he is probably best off as the most advanced of the midfield three, but Burnley’s readiness to sit back and United’s struggles when teams do that arguably makes his passing range more important from a deeper-lying position, where he can ping balls to switch attacks and orchestrate play.
In the No.10 role, we’ve gone for Juan Mata over Andreas Pereira. He drew the fans’ wrath for his limited contributions in the Newcastle win with many supporters questioning is vision and decision making. That will be even more important against the Clarets because their back four is so well organised, so we’re giving the job to someone with a proven track record of providing moments of brilliance in Mata.
Those changes should be welcomed by supporters, but our next suggestion could be more controversial – benching Mason Greenwood after his glowing performance and goal against Newcastle, which in contrast had United fans drooling over him on Twitter.
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But there is sound logic behind this call. First and foremost, Greenwood is just 18 years of age and despite his potential, probably the worst thing Solskjaer could do is start him twice in the space of just three days. Physically, he’s just not at that level yet.
More pertinently though, the right flank will be crucial in United stopping Burnley from scoring. 40% of their attacking play comes down the left, and much of that comes from winger Dwight McNeill, Burnley’s joint-top assister this season and their joint-most creative threat with four setups and 1.4 key passes per match.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has shown he’s capable of locking down that side of the defence on his own, but extra cover would minimise the risk even further and we believe Jesse Lingard is probably the best man for the job. He’s really struggled to get going this season, yet to score or assist in the Premier League, but has always been a hardworking and energetic player – so the tracking back role should suit him.
Our final change is to bring in Phil Jones for Victor Lindelof. The Swedish centre-back has one fundamental weakness which Jose Mourinho pointed out back in September – he’s just not strong in the air. Jones, meanwhile, made a real mess of his only Premier League start this season, which saw him hauled off at half-time against Sheffield United, but he’s certainly not afraid to put his head where it hurts.
Considering Burnley rank second in the Premier League for long balls per game and Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes tend to win, on average, more than seven aerial duels between them per match, partnering Jones with Harry Maguire makes a lot of sense for this one.
