By Alex Roberts
Either side are within the computerized qualification spots, sitting in seventh and eighth respectively, however that might change in a short time, with 5 different sides in a position to leapfrog each United and Rangers within the subsequent spherical of fixtures.
Rúben Amorim hasn’t precisely set the world alight since changing Erik ten Hag, and Philippe Clement is seemingly one sport away from getting the sack at any given time. It’s not fairly ‘El Sackio’, nevertheless it’s about as shut because it will get.
Glad reminiscences for Amad Diallo
Not even arguably Man United’s greatest participant in the mean time, Diallo spent the second half of the 2021-22 season on mortgage at Rangers, banging in three objectives, and offering a single help in his 13 video games.
He’s come a good distance since then and is nearly single handedly dragging Man United out of a possible Premier League relegation battle. A sentence nobody right here at FotMob thought they’d ever write.
Sadly for United, he was powerless to cease Brighton of their 3-1 defeat to the South Coast facet over the weekend, however he’s nonetheless their solely actual large sport participant in the mean time, scoring a late hat-trick in opposition to Southampton, a winner in opposition to Man Metropolis, and an equaliser vs Liverpool. He’ll be eager to do the identical in opposition to his former mortgage membership.
A much-needed aim scorer
Hamza Igamane is de facto beginning to set up himself at Rangers. Having supplanted streaky striker Cyriel Dessers as Clement’s most popular choice up high, he’s received eight objectives in his final ten video games throughout all competitions.
A kind of objectives got here in opposition to Premier League opposition, the opener in opposition to former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglu and his struggling Tottenham facet of their earlier Europe League fixture.
He’s extremely versatile, able to enjoying wherever throughout the frontline, however feels most comfy as both a left-winger or a striker. If we have been to check him to anybody, it could be Marcus Rashford.
Onana, not once more
After his most up-to-date howler within the defeat to Brighton, André Onana has now made 10 errors resulting in objectives in his almost two years on the membership. As compared, David de Gea made 17 over 12 years.
Given Altay Bayındır’s efficiency of their FA Cup third spherical win over Arsenal, Amorim has critical choices ought to he determine to drop Onana. The Turkish worldwide seems to be his most popular selection in home cup competitions, it wouldn’t be stunning if he will get an opportunity in opposition to Rangers too.
The world’s most prolific right-back
Okay, that is perhaps a sweeping assertion, however James Tavernier is an anomaly. Whereas this season he’s not scoring like he used to, simply three objectives and 7 assists in his 31 appearances, he’s a large asset for Rangers.
Lethal from virtually each lifeless ball state of affairs, the Rangers captain may trigger some critical injury in opposition to Man United, who’ve a historical past of not being notably stable from defensive set items.
United conceded a whopping 17 objectives from set items, excluding penalties, in 2024 they usually haven’t began 2025 notably effectively both. After all, that’s not all all the way down to Amorim, however he hasn’t executed a lot to alter it.
Prediction
All these 60+ year-old pundits can be extremely excited a couple of ‘Battle of Britian’, however in all actually, they’re not often a contest. Regardless of United’s poor kind, we’re going to go together with a 3-1 win for the English facet.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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