It has been something of an unsettled summer for Manchester United it appears. Jose Mourinho seems to be more and more embattled and embittered and there has been little from them in the summer transfer market to suggest that they are going to step it up in their challenge for the Premier League title against rivals Manchester City.
Last season it was a matter of function over style from Mourinho’s men and it did get them a successful second place finish, so they were the best of the rest behind runaway titlists Man City. United are third favourites to win the Premier League outright at 7/1 odds* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm).
That is down Mourinho and that’s something that can’t be denied, even if the style is lacking. The Red Devils produced a very strong home record for the season last erm, winning fifteen of their nineteen fixtures at Old Trafford and one of the two losses suffered there was against the Citizens. So there was no complaints in terms of results and with the brilliance of David de Gea between the sticks, they conceded just the nine goals at Old Trafford all season in the top flight.
But it was the lack of flair and creativity that they were criticised most for. They are 5/2 in the Premier League without Man City betting market, behind only Liverpool* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm).
Their big players like Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez and to an extent Marcus Rashford never really got the chance to flourish like they could because of tactics. It’s unlikely that Mourinho is going to open up on the style of play, that’s not his way. So we can expect more of the same and their big summer signing at the time of writing has been midfielder Fred, who has been brought in primarily to add some steel at the base of the midfield which is designed to allow Pogba to flourish a bit more going forward. But they had players in that exact role last season and it didn’t free up the Frenchman.
So the jury is still out a bit in terms of what Manchester United will be able to bring to the table in order to try and reel in Manchester City who finished 19 points clear of them at the top of the table. That’s an enormous gap to make up. They have their big goalscoring asset in Romelu Lukaku who is at 8/1 odds with bet365* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm) to finish as the Premier League’s top goal scorer for the 2018/19 season.
Manchester United were pretty busy over the pre-season but failed to really post positive results, but as a disgruntled Mourinho was quick to point out, he had basically his second string with his pre-season preparations disrupted because of the World Cup.
Premier League Outright Winner Odds*
Manchester City 4/6
Liverpool 4/1
Man Utd 7/1
Chelsea 12/1
Tottenham 16/1
Arsenal 20/1
Bar 250/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm)
Fixture List
The Red Devils host Leicester in the opening fixture of the new Premier League season. That is a Friday night kick off on August 10th, which is one to watch out for. Manchester United are 9/20 odds-on favourites at Old Trafford for maximum points out of the game* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm). Manchester United do appear to have a comfortable opening sequence of fixtures. The only other top-six side that they meet in their first eight games will be Spurs at the end of August and that one is at Old Trafford.
The back end of the season is pretty much the same for United as well because they face just one other top-six side in their final seven matches of the season. So that’s a nice run in which should help them to secure a top-four finish. Their big game within that sequence is the hosting of Chelsea on April 27th. The two key derby dates against Manchester City happen on 10th November at the Etihad and then on 16th March at Old Trafford.
Prediction
You know what you are going to get from Manchester United and we can see the strengths of Mourinho’s approach to the game, even it’s not the most fan-friendly, getting them a top-four finish again. If you wanted to push that on there is a price of 10/11 on a Top Three Finish in the Premier League* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm) for the Red Devils next season. That will be the minimum from them in terms of success.
