Previewing United’s Crucial Game against Swansea

Manchester United face relegation-threatened Swansea City at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.

Manchester United come into the match on the back of the stalemate Manchester Derby draw. They now remain 5th in the standings, a point behind Manchester City and two points behind Liverpool, with a game in hand.

Swansea City come into the match with high spirits, after a convincing 2-0 win over Mark Hughes’ Stoke City. They are 18th in the table, just three points off Hull City, albeit with a game in hand.

Manchester United would be without a big chunk of their regulars, thanks to injuries and suspensions. Ibrahimovic, Rojo, Mata, Smalling, Jones, Fosu-Mensah and Pogba will certainly miss through injury, while Fellaini will serve his punishment for the red card received for his head butt on Sergio Aguero earlier in the week. As a result, Mourinho could be forced to call up to three players from the reserves side. They would still, however, wouldn’t want to lose any points as a win could take them into the top four, provided Liverpool fail to register a win and United win by a margin of at least three goals.

Swansea City have substantially less casualties than their counterparts. Paul Clement’s side would be without Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer and Angel Rangel, who remain sidelined with long-term injuries. They would, however, be optimistic about the chances of Fer, Olsson and Cork, who have all recently returned to training. Swansea would come into the match hoping to conquer United, as a win would take them out of the relegation places to 17th, past Hull City.

This is a must-win match for both sides, and could decide the presence of both clubs in elite competitions next season- United in the Champions League and Swansea in the Premier League. Being an optimist, I think that United would just edge out Swansea and take all points, but with the fear of relegation hovering over your head, you never know how resilient you become.