Manchester United are a club in disarray at the moment. A horrendous past week has seen them knocked out of the Carabao Cup by the Championship’s Derby County, before being defeated 3-1 by West Ham United to succumb to their worst start to a league season in 29 years.
The Red Devils will be desperate to build on their 3-0 start to the their Champions League campaign when they host Valencia at Old Trafford.
However, the La Liga-outfit need a lift as well after losing their opener to Juventus while their domestic campaign has also begun disappointingly. They sit 14th in the standings after seven games.
Here, we look at the tactics manager Jose Mourinho may consider for this clash.
Check out Valencia’s tactics here.
WIDTH DOWN THE LEFT
United don’t offer a lot of width in attack under Mourinho, but Luke Shaw’s resurgence at left-back has created a different dimension down that flank – one the hosts must use to their advantage.
Alexis Sanchez is capable of producing good deliveries from that side for Romelu Lukaku, but Marcus Rashford would offer more width than the Chilean who was left out of squad that lost to West Ham.
Paul Pogba adds to the threat down that left side from midfield. Meanwhile, whether it’s Jesse Lingard or Juan Mata on the right, both tuck inside and will look to switch play to the left when space opens up.
Luke Shaw could be key
FELLAINI ROLE
If Mourinho does revert to the expected 4-3-3 system in this fixture, he may be tempted to use Marouane Fellaini as support for the two centre-backs as he did so effectively away to Burnley.
The Beligian would sprint back from midfield to take up a position alongside the two centre-backs without possession, helping them deal with crosses.
However, Valencia don’t cross the ball with great frequency. Furthermore, they are bottom of La Liga for aerials won this season so Fellaini could prove useful in the opposition’s box.
With the likes of Lukaku and Pogba in the mix as well, that may be an area where United can dominate.
United could overpower Valencia in the air.
