After the disastrous Manchester derby performance, Manchester United boss, Solskjaer spoke about the need to comeback strong against Watford like a hurt animal. He said, “Players are human beings and when you lose a game of football there is no better remedy than winning a game and getting your confidence by winning a game. Hopefully the ones who go away do that and for us it is all about Watford. We have to come out against Watford like a proper hurt animal and get back to what we know we can be and that is the only way to approach this and attack this situation”.
Because of the nature of defeat against City and also the fact that Watford are a side not in form, we can expect Solskjaer to put out an attacking team to relieve some of the pressure on him. His team selection and tactics have been criticised a lot especially his tendency to pick a defensive midfield pivot in Fred and McTominay. United fans in the Manchester derby cheered on loudly when Donny van de Beek was substituted on for Fred and this bound to influence Solskjaer’s team selection.
Man United’s attacking 4-2-3-1 formation against Watford.
Donny van de Beek is expected to partner with Fred in midfield and this will give United a much needed attacking impetus in the middle of the park. Upfront we can expect Fernandes to play in a more attacking number 10 role unlike his defensive role against Manchester City. Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood on the flanks will look to be more attacking and will support Cristiano Ronaldo as much as possible. Greenwood might have been asked by the manager to play a more unselfish role as there were reports on Ronaldo being frustrated with Greenwood’s tendency to shoot from distance.
This is an important game for Solskjaer and anything less than a convincing win will be a disaster for him with reports emerging that Zidane is being contacted to take over at United. He needs to setup his team to play on the front foot and attack Watford.