Manchester United look to make it nine wins from nine under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they host Burnley FC Tuesday night. What Solskjaer has been able to do is nothing short of astounding, as the Red Devils are on the verge of matching Jose Mourinho’s 2016-17 side for putting together a winning streak that has not been seen since the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Prior to the last outing, a 3-1 win at Arsenal in the FA Cup 4th round, Solskjaer showed his team some videos of himself in his playing days. The former striker was known as the “baby faced assassin” in those days, and footage of his prolific counter-attacks helped inspire United to victory.
“He [Solskjaer] was in there also!,” United midfielder Nemanja Matic responded when asked about the pregame video session prep.
“I think we prepared for the game really well. We analyzed them. I think every person in the staff did a great job. We knew exactly what to expect. We knew what we had to do. We knew how we could hurt them so we used our chances and I think the preparation was great and this is the result of that.”
United will head into Premier League match day 24 level on points with Arsenal, but still behind them in the table due to goal differential. Let’s take a look at injury and fitness situation for this one.
Defender Chris Smalling has finally recovered from a knock, and he could feature in the first team for this one. Fellow defender Marcos Rojo could also return.
However, midfielder Marouane Fellaini remains out for awhile due to a strained calf.
For the visitors, they have two long-term injury absentees in Aaron Lennon (knee) and Jonathan Walters (achilles). However, Phil Bardsley could return to action after recovering from a knock.
Manchester United vs Burnley FC FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday, January 29, 8pm local, Old Trafford
Google Result Probability: United win 75%, Draw 17%, Burnley win 8%
Form Guide: Manchester United- WWWWW Burnley- WWWDL
Odds: Manchester United 2/7, Draw 11/2, Burnley 14/1
MUFC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Prediction: Manchester United 3, Burnley 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.