MANCHESTER UNITED may be perfectly poised to claim the bragging rights over neighbours City – even without the ball.
The Red Devils ensured Jose Mourinho’s return to Old Trafford was a miserable one last night as they downed Tottenham 2-1.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man Utd are proving to be real cheeky devils without the ball this seasonCredit: Getty
Two goals from Marcus Rashford either side of Dele Alli’s strike claimed the points – even though Spurs had 54 per cent of possession.
And that continued a trend for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men – and it is why he will not be worried about Man City having more of the ball.
United have enjoyed the majority of possession in ten of their 15 Premier League matches this campaign.
Amazingly, despite appearing to dominate those games, they have only won one of them.
It has been in the matches where they’ve had less of the ball that they have fared the best and picked up the points.
The run started in their opening game as they smashed Chelsea 4-0 at the Theatre of Dreams – even though they only had 46 per cent of the ball.
Their next victory produced a similar outcome with just 41 per cent possession as they downed Leicester 1-0.
Next up was runaway Prem leaders Liverpool, who had a huge 6 per cent of the ball at Old Trafford, but that mattered little.
United were able to hold the Reds to a 1-1 draw, and are so far the only team to take points of Jurgen Klopp’s side.
A home win over Brighton followed that, with just a 42 per cent possession record, until yesterday’s triumph.
And for a manager like Pep Guardiola, who values possession greatly, it presents somewhat of a dilemma.
In fact, it could even be suggested that the best way to beat United is to give them the ball.
United have struggled numerous times against outfits that have been set-up to hit them on the counter.
Sheffield United, Aston Villa, Southampton and Wolves have all held them to a draws along with Arsenal despite surrendering the majority of possession to United.
And Newcastle, Bournemouth, West Ham and Crystal Palace have all emerged victorious despite seeing considerably less of the ball in their encounters with Solskjaer’s side.
That leaves them with a record of one win, five draws and four defeats from the ten matches they have had more possession.
So United fans should not start to worry too much if they are hardly getting a kick on Saturday evening at The Etihad – it is when they are enjoying possession of their own the nerves should start kicking in.
Marcus Rashford double gives Jose Mourinho unhappy Old Trafford return – to ease pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
