After making a strong start to the season from their opening five games, Manchester United have slipped into some poor form ahead of arguably their most challenging run of fixtures.
Manchester United have won just two of their last six games, with both victories coming with just minutes remaining against West Ham and Villarreal.
The pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is intensifying with every passing week and after being gifted a relatively easy start to the campaign, Solskjaer’s side will face their first real test when the current international break ends.
Manchester United make the trip to Leicester in two weeks and having lost to the Foxes twice last season, Solskjaer will know all about Brendan Rodger’s side. A midweek encounter with Atalanta is then followed by Liverpool in the Premier League.
Solskjaer will have the benefit of a full week’s rest before their next test as they face Tottenham before swiftly turning their attention to the reverse fixture against Atalanta, this time in Bergamo.
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In ruthless Premier League fashion, a trip to Villarreal is then sandwiched by games against Manchester City, Watford, Chelsea, and Arsenal. Historically, it’s challenging to find a run of fixtures equal to the one Solskjaer is set to be up against.
The Norwegian boss will need to pull out some impressive performances from his side if his title aspirations are to remain past November this year, with league leaders Chelsea already impressing and the last two champions, Manchester City and Liverpool, both looking strong.
Last season’s second-place finish is seen as an improvement from Manchester United but this season, nothing less than a proper challenge for what would be the club’s 21st league title is acceptable.
An extension to the current poor run could see Solskjaer’s side drift further down the table and leave themselves shading shadows for the second half of the season – a scenario everyone involved will want to avoid.
Prediction:
2 Wins
2 Draw
6 LOSES