Manchester United head to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday to take on the Baggies, who are now led by Alan Pardew. When Pardew’s name is mentioned, you might first think of the 2016 FA Cup Final, in which he was then boss of Crystal Palace, and he engaged in a ridiculous celebratory dance, when his Eagles went up 1-0 on United at Wembley Stadium (pictured above).
The dancing machine was soon switched off as United would equalize and then go on to win 2-1, making Pardew’s boogie fever look all the more silly.
This weekend he leads a team that hasn’t won since August but earned a point in a “riveting” goalless draw at Liverpool Wednesday night. It’s easy to understand why the home side are heavy underdogs Sunday afternoon.
Without further ado, here is our predicted MUFC starting XI, in the 4-2-3-1 formation:
Romelu Lukaku
Jesse Lingard Juan Mata Anthony Martial
Scott McTominay Nemanja Matic
Ashley Young Marcos Rojo Chris Smalling Antonio Valencia
David de Gea
Yes, McTominay! We keep him in the starting lineup, and we base that on what United Manager Jose Mourinho had to say about just considering another everyday first team player, and not “young Scott” anymore.
Also, Mourinho seems pretty determined to prove to everybody that he values youth academy products, and makes a point of giving them ample opportunities.
United vs West Bromwich Albion injury report: go to this link
Odds via Paddy Power: United 4/7, Draw 3/1, West Bromwich Albion 5/1
Prediction: United 2, West Bromwich Albion 0
As always, feel free to post your own MUFC starting XI and match score predictions in the comments section below.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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