The Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era of Manchester United football begins Saturday when the Red Devils visit Cardiff City for a weekend Premier League fixture. The club legend takes over on an interim basis for Jose Mourinho, who was sacked on Tuesday after his having just been handed an extension from the club in January.
Long term, United are trying to poach Pochettino, Mauricio from Tottenham Hotspur. Let’s take a look at who Solskjaer could select in his first team this weekend.
The Bank MUFC Starting XI Prediction vs Cardiff City (4-3-3)
Attack: Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford
Midfielders: Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera
Defenders: Ashley Young, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Diogo Dalot
Goalkeeper: David de Gea
A clear signal, at least in hindsight, of Mourinho getting the sack was his inexplicable decision not to play Pogba a single minute in an arch-rivalry game. That is unjustifiable on so many levels, and it’s even worse when you consider that Mourinho played young defender and summer acquisition Diogo Dalot up in the attacking midfield instead! What was up with that?
You can be pretty sure Solskjaer won’t make selection decisions like that, and we reflected as much in our lineup prediction.
United vs Cardiff City FYIs
Kick-off: 5:30 pm (BST), 12:30 pm (EST), Saturday December 22, Cardiff City Stadium
Google Result Probability: Manchester United win- 60%, Draw 24%, Cardiff City win- 16%
Odds via Odds Shark: United win 100/167, draw 14/5, Cardiff City 5/1
Injury Report for both sides: go to this link
Prediction: United 3, Cardiff City 1
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.