Pressure mounts on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United lose their eighth game of the season at home to struggling Burnley
Last night United hosted Burnley it what was a must-win for the home side to close the gap on the top four. Ole’s side had already beaten Burnley away this season, but the last two times they met at Old Trafford its ended in a 2-2 draw.
It was going to be a tough game for United. They had just been beaten convincingly by Liverpool and were to be without Rashford, Pogba, McTominay and Lindelof.
Burnely, on the other hand, were coming into it full of confidence. They had just beaten Leicester 2-1 on Sunday after going 1-0 down to the foxes.
And this extra confidence showed. Even though United had over 70% possession of the ball, this didn’t bother Burnely who were happy to sit back and wait for their chance. Their first goal came in the 39th minute. A long ball up was flicked on to Chris Wood who finished it calmly inside the six-yard box.
In the second half, United made changes and brought on Mason Greenwood. Many of the fans in the ground felt that he should have been on from the start. He started well Burnley came back and added another. James Rodriguez smashing it into the top left corner beating De Gea easily.
At 2-0 United had a mountain to climb considering the team they had out and the way they were playing. They made several chances but couldn’t force anything and Burnley came away with all three points. This was the first time since 1962 that Burnley had won at Old Trafford, visiting a total of 15 times.
How long left for Solskjaer?
Now six points off of Chelsea, it looks like United won get into the top four this season. They are 11/2 to get top four with Betfair, and considering they’ve lost (12) more Premier League games under Ole than won (11) it’s going to be very hard seeing them get there.
Their best chance now is probably through the Europa League. Up next they have Club Brugge in the Last 32. United were the favourites for the competition, but are now second to Sevilla at 13/2 with the Spanish club at 6/1.
In terms of Ole’s future, who knows. Sunday they take on either Watford or Tranmere in the FA Cup. Currently, he is 8/11 to get sacked next from the Premier League, and should they lose Sunday you would expect this to happen.
Pochettino is the favourite in terms of replacing Ole. He is currently 4/6 and many fans feel this move should be done before he goes somewhere else.
If Ole wants to make a success of his time at Old Trafford he needs to bring in some players soon. They have been linked with Bruno Fernandes all window but talks seem to have stalled. He is still 3/10 to join United and they need to get this over the line, especially with all their injuries.
