Manchester United and Swansea City kick start the second game week of the Premier League season at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow. After cruising past a depleted West Ham United side in their opening game, United get ready for their first away game of this season. Meanwhile, Swansea City played out a goalless draw against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium last weekend.
Manchester United’s rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City registered their first wins of the season. Hence, it becomes even more important for United to continue their winning run as the title race is expected to be very close this season and it’s key to build early momentum.
Swansea City face an uphill task of naming a side against a rampaging Manchester United team. Without the services of their star attacked Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea must pull something out of the box to stop Jose Mourinho’s side.
Their stalemate at St. Mary’s Stadium last week provided a timely reminder of how Paul Clement’s side have to rapidly improve if they have to maintain their place in the Premier League.
Manchester United do not seem to have many injury concerns as of now. Except the three lengthy injuries of Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young, Mourinho will have a full-fledged squad to select his playing XI.
On the other hand, Swansea lost their main player Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton earlier this week. Sigurdsson was involved in 23 goals in 40 matches last season. Manager Paul Clement has himself accepted that replacing a player of his calibre is very difficult.
Their top scorer Fernando Llorente is still sidelined due to an arm injury that he suffered last month. Sung-Yeung Ki will be out of action due to a knee injury while winger Nathan Dyer is still to recover from his Achilles tendon rupture. Midfielder Las Palmas Roque Mesa is expected to make his Premier League debut in this match.
Manchester United’s latest additions Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic starred in their opening game against West Ham United. While Lukaku netted two times at Old Trafford, Matic managed the Man of the Match performance due to his work in the midfield.
Paul Pogba played well in an advanced midfield role and got his name on the score-sheet too. Experts praised Manager Jose Mourinho as he did not ask his team to stop at 2-0 and they played probably their best game under Mourinho’s tenure. Without Fernando Llorente, Swansea could most likely play a defensive game against Mourinho’s men.
Manchester United and Swansea have faced each other 29 times in all competitions with United emerging victorious in 13 of those games. Swansea have not fared bad either, as they have won 10 games against United and managed to draw six games. Their latest encounter resulted in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on 30 April 2017.
Manchester United: W
Swansea City: D
Swansea City 0-3 Manchester United
Manchester United: De Gea, Bailly, Jones, Blind, Valencia; Pogba, Matic, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Rashford; Lukaku
Swansea City: Fabianski; Naughton, Olsson, Fernandez, Mawson; Carroll, Britton, Fer; Routledge, Ayew, Abraham
Manchester United: 4/11
Swansea City: 9/1
Draw: 15/4
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