United will try to win their first away Premier League game since February when they go to Bournemouth this evening.
The Cherries completely shocked Manchester United earlier this season by beating them 3-0 at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag’s team can’t afford to repeat that performance.
United is in a good position going into the game because they just played Liverpool and tied 2-2. They also won at the Vitality Stadium last season.
On the other hand, if they want to win, a certain star player needs to start instead of Marcus Rashford.
Rashford doesn’t start for Manchester United
Yesterday, Ten Hag gave important new information about Rashford’s injury. The United midfielder had to leave the game just after an hour last weekend.
It was reported by the Dutch manager that the England player had trained on Thursday. He will now have a late fitness test to see how many minutes he gets to play.
But the truth is that Rashford should have been on the bench even before the injury because he only got 4/10 against Liverpool, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The tenth player had a hard time getting into the game. He completed only 17 passes, didn’t try to score, and gave the ball away 15 times. The manager should immediately take him off the pitch.
Antony must be set free by Ten Hag.
There’s no doubt about it: Antony has been having a terrible season, and he hasn’t lived up to his £82m price tag so far.
The Brazilian has played 25 times this season, but he hasn’t scored a single goal, which is 1.70 goals less than his expected goal score. This also means that he hasn’t had many chances to score.
Still, there have been big signs of improvement in the last few weeks. It all started with his late goal against Liverpool, which made him a hero for a moment.
Antony’s showing against Chelsea, which got an 8/10 grade from the Manchester Evening News, really showed how great he can be when he’s sure of himself.
| Antony vs Chelsea | |
|---|---|
| Stats | Antony |
| Assists | 1 |
| Key passes | 2 |
| Shots | 3 |
| Successful dribbles | 6/6 |
| Possession lost | 9 |
| Duels won | 9 |
| Tackles | 2 |
| Via Sofascore | |
As you can see, the “unpredictable” winger, as football maker Liam Canning called him, was electric. He was in charge of scoring and also played a big role when the ball wasn’t in play.
During that game at Stamford Bridge, Antony set up Alejandro Garnacho’s second goal with an amazing outside-of-the-foot cross. It was his first Premier League goal assist of the season.
But what really impressed me was how well he could avoid pressure and turn defence into attack. He completed all six of his dribbles and only lost the ball nine times.
When United is pressing, Bournemouth will always play a low block instead of a high line. This means there won’t be much room to move and almost no space behind Rashford. This means Antony is more likely to make an effect on the game.
Also, it’s important for the wingers to be able to win their duels, which Antony did brilliantly against Chelsea. In close games, those little moments can make all the difference.
Overall, Antony should be back in the starting lineup because Rashford isn’t making much of an impact and his injury situation is still unknown. His last game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge got an 8/10 rating.
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