Manchester United will have a glorious opportunity to end the year on a high with 5 consecutive wins when they welcome newcomers Middlesbrough to the Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho seems to have found a winning formula after a lot of chopping and changing and they look a lot more stable and intimidating. The biggest positives till now has been Ibrahimovic’s unflappable form and the other summer signings finally settling down.
United are keeping the pressure on the Top 4 and another win will see Tottenham Hotspur looking nervously over the shoulders with a game against Chelsea coming up in a couple of days.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, will go into the fixture with no pressure on themselves. But Aitor Karanka will expect 100 % from his boys. He will be up against ‘good friend and mentor’ Jose Mourinho and will not like to see his players being pushed over the more illustrious team. While Boro are not off the hook in any manner, they have at least settled well and look capable of carving out a niche for themselves in the league.
TRIVIA
- Manchester United are unbeaten in seven Premier League matches against Boro (W4 D3), last losing to them 4-1 in October 2005.
- Middlesbrough have scored three goals at Old Trafford on three occasions in the Premier League (May 1997, December 1998 and February 2004). No visiting team has done this more often (Chelsea and Manchester City).
- Middlesbrough’s last visit to Old Trafford was in the League Cup last season, beating United on penalties 3-1 after a 0-0 draw.
- Wayne Rooney has scored twice and assisted three goals in his last four Premier League games against Middlesbrough, but the most recent of these came in May 2009.
- Manchester United kept a clean sheet in their final league game of 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
- Middlesbrough haven’t lost their final league game of a calendar year since 2009 (W4 D2 since).
- The Red Devils have won their last four Premier League games, last achieving a run of five in April 2015 when they won six in a row.
- Middlesbrough have now won only one of their last 22 away Premier League games (D6 L15), failing to score in 12 of those games.
- After six Premier League games without having a hand in a single goal, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been involved in 10 goals in his last seven games (eight goals, two assists).
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is expected to start after another impressive display off the bench. Carrick might be rested and in that case, Fellaini is expected to come in as the replacement. Wayne Rooney is expected to remain sidelined with a knee problem and will be a miss while Luke Shaw is also expected to be out.
De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Blind; Carrick, Herrera, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Lingard; Ibrahimovic
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-3-3)
Aitor Karanka will be without the suspended Antonio Barragan for the trip to Old Trafford, while Viktor Fischer remains sidelined with a knee injury. Fabio might come in at right-back with Friend coming in at left-back.
Valdes; Fabio, Chambers, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Forshaw, De Roon; Ramirez, Negredo, Traore
ODDS
MANCHESTER UNITED- 1/4
DRAW- 5/1
MIDDLESBROUGH- 15/1
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA
