Manchester United crushed it yesterday, responding from a 1-0 deficit to annihilate Newcastle United 4-1 at home on Boxing Day. Dominant performances are not anything new to seventh place United this season, it’s following up on them that’s a severe issue.
Too often we’ve seen United get it done in a manner just like they’re expected to do, and then follow it up with a total dud of a performance, losing to a side that has no business beating them. Which team shows up at the Turf Moor to take on 12th place Burnley FC?
Whichever side manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer puts out there, it won’t include young, but stellar defender Scott McTominay, who is out with knee ligament damage (more on that here). Meanwhile Axel Tuanzebe, Diogo Dalot and Marcos Rojo are all doubts for this match. And will we see Paul Pogba start and go the full 90?
And if you didn’t hear about the wristbands he made and distributed, in the cause of trying to fight racism, click here. For Burnley, Ben Gibson is out and Aaron Lennon is questionable.
Manchester United at Burnley FC FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday Dec 28, Turf Moor 7:45pm
United starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Form Guide: Manchester United- WDWWD Burnley- LWWLL
Google Result Probability: Manchester United 52%, Draw 26%, Burnley FC win 22%
Prediction: Manchester United 1, Burnley FC 0
United are just four points off the pace of the top four, but they have no chance of getting there unless they consistently play against the mid and lower table sides in the same way they do against the big boys.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.