Just prior to kickoff at the Theatre of Dreams, we had some Manchester United team news break. Antony, currently at the center of controversy due to his spin move on Thursday, is out with a minor injury.
Victor Lindelof is also out, with an unspecified illness, and with Raphael Varane a long term injury absentee, it means Erik ten Hag had no choice but to start Harry Maguire.
David Moyes’ PL away record at Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea & Man Utd with broccoli representing draws & tomatoes as defeats [no wins yet]
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— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) October 19, 2022
This was the first start for Maguire, who was also handed the captaincy again for this match, since the week two disaster at Brentford. Ten Hag said that Maguire, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo (who was also surprisingly handed a first team assignment) has “something to prove.”
The Dutchman went on to say that everyone in the club has something to prove, as this is MUFC and the standards are always high. He’s definitely right on about that.
Regarding the non-specified injury that Antony suffered, Ten Hag said this to Sky Sports before the match: “I think it’s not too bad, in a couple of days he will be back.”
No further information was provided on the illness that Lindelof is suffering from.
By the way, here a couple factoids for you- David Moyes has never had an away win versus United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea. In 69 tries, it has never happened (as illustrated by the tweet above).
Also, It is 85 years to the day, covering a span of over 4,000 games that United have named at least one home-grown player in every match day squad. Today it was Marcus Rashford.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.