admin Man United will face a big confrontation this weekend when they take on Manchester City in the first derby of the season.
It’s hard to call this game classic, convincing or even good, but Manchester United – almost – strung together three straight wins on Tuesday night.
It was also an important victory, a hard-fought 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen that put United on the scoresheet in the Champions League. Erik ten Hag’s side remain third in the table behind Galatasaray and Bayern Munich, but they now find themselves in a much stronger position than if they had failed to win their new fixture.
It took an unexpected goal from Harry Maguire and a spectacular last-minute penalty save from Andre Onana, but United overcame a poor performance to win in the circumstances. intense.United have been playing with fire in recent matches and although they have had some encouraging wins, if this continues they will surely burn down.
The weekend brings a much tougher opponent than Brentford, Sheffield United or FC Copenhagen. It brings together the best team on the planet and United’s formidable opponents. This gives Manchester City.
If United start the game against Pep Guardiola’s side the way they have in their last three outings, they could end up falling far behind with no chance of a comeback or a late win.With Erling Haaland alone, City has enough firepower to sink a submarine and that’s not including the fiery Julian Alvarez, the electric Jeremy Doku or the excellent Phil Foden.
The Blues may not be at their best yet, but they are still one step ahead of United and will punish their neighbors severely if they leave as much space and waste as much time on the ball as they do. recently. This is why Ten Hag must make at least one adjustment to his starting lineup.
United looked listless in the first 45 minutes against visitors Denmark on Tuesday night. They were careless in possession of the ball and could not impose themselves, while Copenhagen once again showed dominance and took the lead against the home team.
Everything changes during the break. Christian Eriksen came on at half-time and, with some tactical adjustments, had a transformative effect. The playmaker almost scored immediately after coming on, but was denied by a fine save, after which his fine passes brought United to life.
Suddenly they got past the defense but couldn’t find the net, with Alejandro Garnacho and Scott McTominay being particularly wasteful. It was no surprise that when the breakthrough finally came, it was a superb cross from Eriksen that produced it.
“He was part of it, definitely,” Ten Hag said of Eriksen after the match. “I think our build-up got fluid, more fluid, once he came in. But we made some adjustments in other positions, in other constructions and cooperations.
“But Christain definitely played a big part in that. His timings were good to get free and on the ball his decision-making was good and the best example was the assist for Harry Maguire’s goal.”
Whatever adjustments were made, it’s obvious they need to remain in place for Sunday’s derby, as does Eriksen in the side. The difference between performances in each half was stark and United simply can’t afford to start so poorly against City.
There are concerns over Eriksen fading in the second half but that’s a bridge that must be crossed when it arrives. To ensure United do get to the bridge, Eriksen must start in midfield in the derby.
