The omens bode well for the Baby-Faced Assassin as Manchester United welcome Huddersfield Town to Old Trafford this boxing day.
After the Red Devils’ demolition of Cardiff City last weekend, new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could become just the fifth man to win both of his first two league matches in charge of Man Utd, a minor achievement that not even the great Sir Alex Ferguson managed.
The Norwegian will instead aim to emulate TJ Wallworth, Sir Matt Busby, Dave Sexton and immediate predecessor Jose Mourinho with an expected rotated squad that won’t see Romelu Lukaku back in contention for a starting berth after continuing to be granted compassionate leave, that rendered him absent for the last trip to South Wales.
Despite risking fans’ ire throughout some unimpressive performances under Mourinho, the big Belgian, recently linked with a stunning move to Serie A colossus Juventus, is a huge loss for Solsjkaer after his impressive statistic against the Terriers was revealed.
“Everyone in the squad knows: ‘I will get a chance now’. Solsjaker has gone on record to state (manutd.com), though it seems Lukaku will have to wait a little longer.
“Whatever has gone, whatever has happened, has happened. Everyone starts with a clean slate. We want players to perform, given the chance.”
Romelu Lukaku has incredibly scored three goals in three appearances against Huddersfield in all competitions, with all three being scored last season. As most United fans are aware, the first came in a 2-1 loss at the John Smith’s Stadium to leave David Wagner’s newly-promoted side on Cloud Nine.
However, that loss is the single anomaly in Utd’s previous 14 games against Huddersfield in all competitions, the aforementioned defeat coming 14 months ago when Utd went on to record a woeful record against all promoted teams of the 2017/18 season.
Furthermore, Huddersfield – looking to stay in the Premier League for a third successive year though currently in a lowly 19th – have failed to score in seven of their last 10 games against the 13-time Premier League champions, whereas Man Utd haven’t lost a home league game on Boxing Day since 1978/79.
So will Man Utd bag all three points at the Theatre of Dreams against a relegation zone confined Huddersfield?