Ten Hag must start Man Utd’s “immaculate” ace over Lindelof

Ten Hag must start Man Utd’s “immaculate” ace over Lindelof

The Manchester derby. A fixture that Manchester United fans dread rather than look forward to takes place this afternoon at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola has gotten the better of Erik ten Hag since the Dutch boss arrived in England, with Manchester City winning three of the four encounters since the start of last season.

Luckily, the Red Devils do go into the game during their best run of form all campaign, winning seven matches already in 2024 across all competitions.

However, the problem lies in the absence of some key players, such as Rasmus Hojlund, Luke Shaw, and Lisandro Martinez. Nonetheless, Victor Lindelof should be given the boot if United are to walk away with anything.

Man Utd starting XI last time they won at the Etihad

Man City 0-2 Man United (March 2021)

GK – Dean Henderson

RB – Aaron Wan-Bissaka

CB – Victor Lindelof

CB – Harry Maguire

LB – Luke Shaw

CM – Fred

CM – Scott McTominay

CM – Bruno Fernandes

RW – Dan James

LW – Marcus Rashford

ST – Anthony Martial

Why Victor Lindelof must be benched

The 29-year-old has been somewhat of a useful utility and squad player this season, stepping into the starting XI when usual first-team starters are unavailable.

Lindelof has featured in 16 Premier League matches this campaign, starting 11 of those matches, with six of them being in an unorthodox left-back role. However, Ten Hag trialled Sofyan Amrabat in that position on Wednesday in the FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest, with the Moroccan set to start in the same role against the Citizens.

This means that if the Swede were to start, he would be playing as a central defender up against Erling Haaland, who is known for his athleticism, strength, and pure goal-scoring ability.

Lindelof is a defender who isn’t the most physical, as shown by his 1.6 duels won per game this season, and he has been caught out when getting tight to the opponent recently, with his two yellows in his last three games serving as evidence for that.

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Man United simply cannot afford this lack of assertiveness and dominance on the field against Man City, as the quality of Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and so on will take advantage of that.

Therefore, Ten Hag could look towards a more experienced centre half to partner Raphael Varane this afternoon.

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Scott McTominay struggled at times against Nottingham Forest.

Why Jonny Evans must start against Man City

The signing of 36-year-old Jonny Evans was both confusing and frowned upon by the United faithful at the start of the term, however, the defender has been crucial at times throughout this season, not just stepping up in absences but also performing to a high standard, with creator Liam Canning describing one of his performances last month as “immaculate.”

The Northern Ireland rock has started ten games in the league this season while also being relied upon to come off the bench and secure a victory. The number 35 has already built a dominant partnership alongside Varane, with the duo’s performance against Liverpool in the 0-0 draw proving that they can be effective against the very best.

Varane & Evans v Liverpool

Stats

Varane

Evans

Goals conceded

0

0

Clearances

15

5

Blocked shots

2

2

Duels won

4/4

3/4

Possession lost

10

5

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see by the table above, Evans and the French defender were a brick wall at Anfield, despite the hosts having 34 attempts at goal, 12 corners, and 68% possession. They showed their experience and incredible box-defending ability to prevent Liverpool from finding the back of the net.

The high clearances prove that their reading of the game is excellent while also showing that they can deal with crosses into the box, whether they’re in the air or on the floor. This will be vital against Haaland, who has exceptional movement and thrives inside the box.

Between the centre halves, they also won seven of their eight duels, proving that they can be dominant and deal with the physicality of the Norweigan much better than Lindelof, for example, who’s won four of his last ten duels.

Overall, it is quite clear that if United are to have any success this afternoon, then the centre-half pairing of Evans and Varane will play a big role.