Time to shoot?
In Villa Park, there were telltale signs that some players would have to take a break in a week in which United has seven games to play. Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have expressed their dismay that they are saddling up with Monday, Thursday and Sunday schedules, and there is approximately the same chance that United will play the same XI as LASK Linz in all three games qualified for the last eight.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has covered most of the ground since the restart, Luke Shaw has started all 17 unbeaten games, Nemanja Matic will be 32 next month and Marcus Rashford is overwhelmed.
Or is it five in a row?
The last time United made an unchanged XI in five consecutive Premier League games was in the first Premier League season. Alex Ferguson named Schmeichel, Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin, Sharpe, McClair, Ince, Giggs, Hughes and Cantona in six games in January and February 1993.
This season United ended its drought in the championship and had only eight national and European cup games to deal with when Ferguson prioritized the league. United played a modest 50 games when there were 24 teams in the Premier League. You have played 53 this season.
Solskjaer to emulate Ferguson?
The win at Aston Villa corresponded to Mourinho’s unbeaten run of 17 games from 2016 to 17 as the best player in the post-Ferguson period. If United should at least avoid losing to Southampton, they have played 18 games without a loss since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season in 2012/13. A sequence that started with a 3-2 derby win and ended with Mourinhos Real Madrid via Cuneyt Cakir.
Greenwood to match Rooney?
Mason Greenwood needed 15 games less than Rashford to score 16 goals for United, and he could play up to nine more games to exceed the 20 goal mark. If Greenwood was 17, he would have had Wayne Rooney’s first season record for United in the 2004/05 season.
Better go?
It was a month full of problems in the first world at United, the manager of which has repeatedly complained that he did not win with more than three goals. That is exactly what Solskjaer should say and he is also aware that Leicester is still six times better in the goal difference column.
Southampton will certainly be United’s test opponent since Tottenham, and this is not a fix point. United supporters should ask themselves how many they will win. If they won with at least four goals, it would be an impressive statement.
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