Another week in the Premier League , another sacked manager at Man United.
Peter Crouch has surveyed the wreckage of another Old Trafford misstep before delivering his best bets for Man United v Chelsea on Sunday – and don’t forget, you can get your money back as a FREE BET if your Bet Builder on this game loses, find out more here…
Man United v Chelsea Betting Tips
Chelsea to win
Cole Palmer to score or assist
Nicolas Jackson to have 1+ shots on target
Rasmus Hojlund to have 1+ shots on target
Manuel Ugarte to commit 1+ fouls
- A Bet Builder with these selections pays at approximately 7/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR BETSLIP
WHEN: Sunday, November 3 – 4:30pm
WHERE: Old Trafford, Manchester
TV: Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League
It’s felt like Erik ten Hag was on borrowed time for quite a while at Man United. I was surprised they didn’t make the change in the summer.
When new owners come in they often want to go for a new man to freshen things up.
And it has often felt like they were papering over the cracks with results in the past. We’d see these “must-win games” come along every so often, and they’d nick it and he’d stay. The FA Cup win last season felt like that.
It was great for the CV to have another trophy but I’m not sure it said much about where the team was going.
So, it’s felt like a banker for a while that he’d be gone if things didn’t improve, and they didn’t, so he had to go.
Obviously the players have to take some responsibility. United have gone through quite a few managers now, but the buck stops with the gaffer ultimately, and the team was not performing so changes were definitely needed.
They spent a lot of money too and he brought in his own players who haven’t worked.
Antony on his own might get some managers sacked – he cost over £80m and has been awful.
And, being honest, it felt like there was some improvement straightaway in the League Cup game against Leicester on Wednesday night, albeit it wasn’t their strongest side.
And United were a bit unlucky in what turned out to be the manager’s last game in charge at West Ham, but you can’t just keep saying you’re unlucky at a club like this. You have to get the job done and they are miles off where they should be.
It looks like the club have their replacement lined up already. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of Ruben Amorim and his Sporting team in Europe over the last few years. I like the way his teams play, it’s exciting. He’s a young manager and has had success so far.
But Old Trafford feels like a graveyard for managers at the moment – whoever goes there seems to leave with their reputation in tatters by the end of it. It feels like you’re only ever two games away from being under pressure. A draw and a loss and it piles on. That’s the nature of the job.
They did do well in the game on Wednesday night under Ruud van Nistelrooy. You can’t do much more than score five goals. It won’t do Erik ten Hag much good, but the chances finally started to go in after they’ve missed so many recently. I can imagine him watching that and uttering a few expletives – though he might not be too upset now that he’s out of the spotlight and got a nice payoff.
Now they’ve to play Chelsea and that will be a bigger test.
I’ve been really impressed by them this season under Enzo Maresca. He has put his identity on the team in a way that did not look easy when they were buying and selling so many players over the summer. He’s gone in there and made big decisions. He’s palmed some players off and said they’re not part of his squad. That helps when there’s so many players on the books.
And now they look like a settled team.
In Europe he’s had basically another 11 who’ve played there and he can do that and keep the Premier League team well-rested. And they look sharp in the league.
Their first-team looks as good as any and I think they’ll really trouble Man United on Sunday.
Chelsea to win
Ruud van Nistelrooy is probably only going to have a handful of games as United manager so I’m not expecting him to worry about rotation too much.
He put out a strong side in midweek and a got the result against a weakened Leicester side.
I’d imagine Chelsea will be back to their first XI as well after going out of the Carabao Cup, and on balance I have to fancy them. It will be close and I expect a few goals as there always seems to be between these sides. I can see the visitors just nicking it.
Cole Palmer to score or assist
Cole Palmer’s the main man for them. He’s on set-pieces, penalties and can make something out of nothing so I’ll go with him for a goal or assist as I expect Chelsea to get a couple at least.
Nicolas Jackson to have 1+ shots on target
I’d have liked to go with Jadon Sancho here as he’d be up against his old club. He fell out with Erik ten Hag and had what looked like a cheeky message :wave: emoji for his old manager on Instagram this week, but he can’t play in this game due to Premier League rules around loans, sadly.
But Nicolas Jackson’s been getting goals this season too. I’ve said before how I think he’s underrated because he had an up-and-down first season but he’s really fitted in well under Maresca and a shot on target isn’t too much to ask for Sunday.
Rasmus Hojlund to have 1+ shots on target
For United, Rasmus Hojlund will most likely get back in the team after midweek and lead the line. He looks the biggest threat of a goal to me so I’ll take him for a shot on target.
Manuel Ugarte to commit 1+ fouls
Manuel Ugarte’s consistently got at least one foul in his games this season and should be good for another as Man United try to get control of this game.
Peter Crouch’s Man United v Chelsea Bet Builder
Chelsea to win
Cole Palmer to score or assist
Nicolas Jackson to have 1+ shots on target
Rasmus Hojlund to have 1+ shots on target
Manuel Ugarte to commit 1+ fouls
- A Bet Builder with these selections pays at approximately 7/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR BETSLIP
* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Want more football tips this weekend?
- Money back as a FREE BET if your United v Chelsea Bet Builder loses
- Wolves v Palace Tips: Joe Cole’s 28/1 Bet Builder for Saturday night
- Premier League Predictions: Lawro sees a United win but Everton and Villa lose this weekend
- Football Tips: This weekend’s 9/1 acca for the biggest Premier League games on the box
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