Manchester united and Chelsea both dropped 2 points in the race for top four or at least the Epl triumph. This means Manchester united are at 4 points 2 points behind league leaders Liverpool and Arsenal. Chelsea are still looking for their first win of the season. They lost to Manchester united on the first day and could only salvage a draw at home against Leicester city.

Chelsea

I made my prediction here 3 days ago that Chelsea will find it difficult to beat Leicester city. It played out exactly like that. Chelsea started the game with the aim to score an early goal. They got the goal from an error from Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi. You would think Chelsea will go on and score for fun from there. They stopped attacking and started controlling the match preferring to play around in the midfield. They had the ball for most of the first half but couldn’t do anything meaningful with it.

The second half started and Brendan Rodgers urged his side to go for a goal. Leicester attacked with the intent of finding the equalizer. They got it via an Ndidi header and could have gotten more if not for smart goalkeeping from Kepa and wastefulness from Madisson.

The match exposed Chelsea lack of quality back up and it is one thing oppositions will want to exploit this season. They have no quality back up. The likes of Willian, Pedro, and Abraham are not fit for the Chelsea squad. They can’t inspire the team to victory like Eden Hazard would have done.


Manchester united

Manchester united fans are calling for Pogba head for a missed penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Manchester united started the match bossing around the field thus preventing Wolves to defend deep. They cut out most counter attacks orchestrated by the Wolves. They got rewarded by a fine team goal and continued possessing with the intent of scoring that never came. Anthony Martial was used as the target man in the match and it was glaring that the Frenchman don’t have what it takes to lead the line for Manchester united. Wolves defenders won’t give you the second to take too many touches on the ball, they will kick you every now and then. He was unable to hold off the Wolves defenders and always losing the first touches ball. That was what most fans complained about Romelu Lukaku, poor first touch, too big, too slow and yes they sold him. Now they are facing the same thing with Martial.

The second half came with Wolves dumping their defensive tactics to attack and get a goal. They got it from some fine finishing from Ruben Neves. The game turned something else then as Manchester united started players started playing with caution to avoid another goal and keep trickster Adama Traore in check. A moment of magic from Paul Pogba saw Manchester united won a penalty. He failed to convert the penalty which irked many fans. Why can’t you allow Rashford take it? Well, anyone could have lost the penalty kick. Don’t blame Pogba, he was the best player for the united team yesterday.

I blame headcoach Solskjaer for his delayed substitution. Daniel James and Lingard were almost nonexistent in the match. Daniel James disappeared after he got the yellow card and Lingard was nowhere to be found. I expected Andreas Pereira to come in for Daniel James and Matic for Lingard. That will change the formation into a sort of 4-3-1-2. It will let him solidify the midfield that has been lost ever since Wolves started attacking.

Matic, McTominay can act as the defensive midfielders doing the dirty works while Andreas Pereira make the simple passes. This will give Paul Pogba the free role position just behind Rashford and Martial upfront.

Unfortunately, Solskjaer didn’t make his first substitution until the 81st minute followed by a double substitution in the 89th minute.

I believe Solskjaer is the cause of the loss with his delayed substitution. Adama coming in for Doherty and with Wolves dominating means they are likely to score a goal. You should have responded with a counter substitution to nullify any potential threat.

Take heart Manchester united fans and enjoy Neves goal.