Remember remember the 5th of November.

Known the luck United have & the luck we've had I can bet one of our top players will be out for this game just a day or two before. 

Well their midlane is nothing special but they can give us a fight. And Baka and Cesc with all these wrong and deflected passes, the incapability of playing the ball quickly and the pressure they will put on them with Matic, Fellaini and Herrera and the quick Rashford, Martial and Young... no thanks. If Kante is not ready, we should definitely put Drinkwater on the pitch, no matter what. What happened with City will be remembered as a good game compare to this one, considering the style of both teams. If we give the ball to opponent and wait in our own pole, we might have a shot even with Baka and Fabregas. Yes, this City team is out of this world right now and they are much, much better than Jose's crew and they didn't give us a shot,  but United will be waiting for us, to use their speed and we'll be exposed. Drinkwater is obviosly not a world class player, but he will be there - in both aspects of the game, defensively and offensively + he is experienced and knows what to do. 

Due to "The Mourinho Factor" and how much I dislike the bloke now, this has become the game of the season that I want us to win above all others. It has always been a big game but in the past I got more pleasure out of us beating Sp*rs, Arsenal and Liverpool, but not any more. Last season, far & away the biggest highlight for me was the 4-0 drubbing we gave them and to see Mourinho absolutely broken on the touchline. Trouble is, he will want revenge or at the very least to not lose and a game against Conte's Chelsea has probably become more of a must not lose game than any other for him, even more so than Pep's City and Wenger's Arsenal.

I can see him setting up, happy for the 0-0 but hoping they will snatch a goal and go away with all 3 points and a clean sheet. Got a feeling they might well target Alonso, who struggles against Pace so I hope we have them on the back foot like last season and we don't sit too deep. We need Kante back for this one and the likes of Hazard, Pedro and Morata to be on fire. 

I'll take any win but if we could repeat last season's performance, I'll be letting fireworks off in celebration!

 

 

If Azpi plays CB, JM will try and match Lukaku with him for a knock down opportunity like the winner v Spurs this w/e.

Previously JM would be happy for a point here so I would not have been surprised to see a 4-5-1 though due to City's lead I think he may well play a 4-3-3 going for the win.

I hope this is a match where Fab will be on the bench.

 

7 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

If Azpi plays CB, JM will try and match Lukaku with him for a knock down opportunity like the winner v Spurs this w/e.

Previously JM would be happy for a point here so I would not have been surprised to see a 4-5-1 though due to City's lead I think he may well play a 4-3-3 going for the win.

I hope this is a match where Fab will be on the bench.

 

Yep, probably go for Christensen at the back for this one. 

Guess Conte will play Cahill to counter arial threat of Lukaku, but I hope we have some pace in the defence with either Christensen or Rudiger or Both starting.

Wonder if he'll consider playing Luiz in midfield - it has worked well in big games in the past?

 

That doesn't make any sense. He saw that problem last year, put Zlatan there as well, and it didn't work. If our lane is smart enough we will keep Lukaku in offside or at least far from the goal-line. It's not that simple, Azpilicueta is like Batman - he knows his weaknesses and hides them very well.  I can't see us dropping Azpi and if he is not one of the three, that means he will start as wing back, which is a role he is really bad at, so... please, no. 

Edited October 30, 20178 yr by Pendergast

We were caught out by Spurs on two occasions last season with runners bisecting our defence to head goals, Azpi was in those defences. Not knocking him as he has been a great servant yet we need to be alert to JM's small details when it comes to winning matches.

More than our defense, I hope all our forwards work their socks off for this one because it'd be bus parking + Herrera manmarking Hazard for at least 80mins and Utd hoofball.

Score early like last season and the gameplan and the Utd players will hopefully unravel. 

Well, after tonight's sh*tshow, some big decisions needed for Sunday. Personally, I would go with this:

Tibo

Rudi Luiz Christensen

Zappacosta Bakayoko Drinkwater Kante Alonso

Hazard Morata

 

The 3 at the back just isn't working now, we're getting nothing from our wingbacks going forward (Alonso especially) and we just look clueless trying to defend. Back to the old 4-3-3 I think.

Courtois

Zappacosta  Rudiger  Christensen  Azpilicueta

Bakayoko  Drinkwater  Kante  

Pedro  Morata  Hazard

We should play a 4 at the back.

With Alonso, Cahill, and Cesc as far away from the stadium as possible. 

1 minute ago, Zeta said:

The 3 at the back just isn't working now, we're getting nothing from our wingbacks going forward (Alonso especially) and we just look clueless trying to defend. Back to the old 4-3-3 I think.

Courtois

Zappacosta  Rudiger  Christensen  Azpilicueta

Bakayoko  Drinkwater  Kante  

Pedro  Morata  Hazard

Couldn't agree more with that, I would play Luiz instead of Rudiger though, he's a great leader and we usually play better when he plays. 

Just cant see us getting a result here jose will out tactic conte. 

Absolutely dreading this. Mourinho/Lukaku/Matic there is so much bullsh*t around this game, it is bound to go against us. 

Not sure I'll be able to bring myself to watch this one. Might have to make up an excuse not to be at home.

Going to be more than just a match, so much around this game. United are coming after two big victories against Spurs and Benfica, they're confident but there is always a time that one team will come and show to them some class. We aren't at our best at the moment, Conte has to look for a solution as faster as he can because losing here will lead him to troubles. Going to be a physical game, United will look to score first, then they will be sitting back. 

Conte must choose the best XI he can, hopefully, we will have Kante back. 

I'd like to see this starting lineup:

---------------- Courtois ---------------

- Azpilicueta - Luiz - Rudiger - 

Zappacosta - Kante - Bakayoko - Alonso

- Willian - Morata - Hazard - 

 

As much as I want to see Christensen playing, I think Luiz is still more important because of his leadership and communication with the players, for this game he is needed. If Kante will be fit, then our central would be covered perfectly by Kante and Bakayoko. 

Let's hope we will be watching the Chelsea we love! COME ON CHELS!!!!!

18 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Couldn't agree more with that, I would play Luiz instead of Rudiger though, he's a great leader and we usually play better when he plays. 

The problem with that is that Luiz looks back to his worst this season, I wouldn't trust him in a back 4 again.

Tibo

Rudi Andreas liiz

Zappa kante drinkwater alonso

pedro morata hazard

i guess the team should probably choose itself. 

Hazard will probably be taken out of the game again like last time, and today he really looked mentally/physically damaged after that knock, completely different player after it. 

 

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

The problem with that is that Luiz looks back to his worst this season, I wouldn't trust him in a back 4 again.

I can't fault too much of the back 3 at the moment, I would trust in Luiz more than I would Rudiger at this very moment though. Rudiger still looks like he gets nervous, Luiz is incredibly confident. 

1 hour ago, Zeta said:

The 3 at the back just isn't working now, we're getting nothing from our wingbacks going forward (Alonso especially) and we just look clueless trying to defend. Back to the old 4-3-3 I think.

Courtois

Zappacosta  Rudiger  Christensen  Azpilicueta

Bakayoko  Drinkwater  Kante  

Pedro  Morata  Hazard

Now I do not think there is any chance we return back to the old 4-3-3 but if we did Surley Rudiger would be a better option at right back than Zappa, who clearly is not trusted.

 

Tibo

 

Rudiger----Cahill-----Christensen----Dave

 

Baka-----Kante------Drinkwater

 

Pedro------Batman-----Hazard

This is the first time I'm not feeling confident coming into a United game in a long time. Mostly because of our inconsistent form which makes things unpredictable. The problem at the moment is that when we seem to be making a turning point and getting two or three wins on the trot, the team takes a step back with another loss or draw (It's very Arsenal-like at the moment).

This game could be one of the most important games of the season so far. If we win it, the players gain a massive confidence boost from beating a rival and also closing in on them. Not only that, but some of our injured players like Kante are finally coming back so it is a great place to start picking up points. If we lose, things will be looking very ugly and the press is going to continue with their 'Sack Conte' narrative. 

Edited November 1, 20178 yr by Frankie8Lampard

I don't have high expectations for this after the roma game.

We are not putting chances away and we are leaking in too many goals. We just don't seem right at all this season very inconsistent.

 

Sadly i feel it will be a United win