Manchester United will be looking to secure three points when they host Premier League strugglers Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
On Saturday, Ruben Amorim’s men staged a dramatic comeback away at Everton after going two goals down to secure a late 2-2 draw.
While Everton have been in fine form since David Moyes returned to the club for a second stint as manager, Ipswich find themselves in a far different position.
In their past five league games, Ipswich has suffered four defeats while managing a single draw. In fact, the last time they won a Premier League match was in December last year, when they defeated Chelsea 2-0.
Letting in a mammoth 17 goals in their last five league outings, Ipswich appear to be fresh for the plucking. Still, there are some major issues that United will need to overcome in order to take advantage of the visitors’ vulnerability.
In the Everton draw, United took nine shots, but only two were on target – namely the two goals. This means that it took until the 72nd minute for the team to find the target, courtesy of a surgical Bruno Fernandes free-kick.
The previous league match saw United fall to a 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur. On that occasion, Amorim’s team took 16 shots, with the first accurate attempt coming much earlier, in the 10th minute. Still, six accurate shots were a low proportion.
In United’s 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace before that, United took a grandiose 17 shots, yet only two were on target. On that occasion, it took until the 51st minute to take an accurate shot.
As is evident, United have made a habit out of getting matches off to a very slow start in an attacking sense, particularly when it comes to taking accurate shots. It thus comes as little surprise that Amorim’s side has scored only four goals in the last five league games.
No matter how poor Ipswich have been at the back, United will not be able to exploit their gaping vulnerabilities if they do not become more aggressive up front straight out the gate.
As was evident in the Everton game, United certainly have some great attacking potential, especially when they pushed the hosts to the limit in the final 18 minutes of the match.
Still, even with such talent, United will not be able to get the better of Ipswich if they start slow as they often do and perhaps concede first, which has become a frustratingly regular occurrence.
After all, falling behind and lacking an attacking threat early on will only make the team’s job more difficult, even if they spark to life later in the match, as is regularly the case.
When United take to the Old Trafford pitch tonight, Amorim must ensure that they come out swinging from the first whistle. Anything less will only make their job harder in what should be a straightforward victory, which is quite a rare opportunity for United given the disastrous season they’ve endured.
Feature image Jan Kruger via Getty Images
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Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
