Ten Hag to freeze Haaland

The Manchester derby will kick off on Sunday afternoon local time, with Manchester United visiting the Etihad to challenge defending champions Manchester City. Although Ten Hag has led the Red Devils to a recent comeback, there is no doubt that Guardiola’s Blue Moon are the favourites to win. However, the data shows that United still have a chance to win away, and perhaps more so than at home at Old Trafford.

Manchester United have already beaten Liverpool and Arsenal at home this season, but visiting Manchester City is still a bigger challenge. The team has won all at home this season and only conceded 3 goals. The Blue Moon eventually reversed and won in those two games. The last time Manchester City dropped points at home was in April, when they drew 2-2 with Liverpool. Manchester City have only lost one game at home this year, against Tottenham at the beginning of the year.

However, despite City’s ferocious momentum, there is still a record in favour of Manchester United taking all three points in the derby this weekend. The data shows that in the Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City, the visiting team has won a total of 21 times, which is the highest winning percentage of any away team!

Not only that, Manchester United’s last five defeats against Manchester City have been completed at the Etihad Stadium four times, most recently in March last year. Of course, the spell of the visiting team’s victory last season was broken, as Manchester United suffered an easy double play from their rivals in the same city. But now, Ten Hag, who has improved United’s defensive counter-attack tactics, has every chance to upset Guardiola on the road.

To beat Manchester City, Manchester United must solve two problems. One is how to defend Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker has scored 11 goals and 1 assist in 7 games. Haaland’s style is different from Manchester City’s passing control. He does not actively participate in passing organization and prefers to actively move. He said that his most perfect game is to score 5 goals with 5 touches.

Manchester City will use their traditional pass control, create wide space and then send the ball to find Haaland. Manchester United must curb the number of chances created by their opponents in the attacking third and reduce the supply of Haaland from the source. Then look to the centre-back duo of Lisandro Martinez and Varane to keep Haaland in check.

Martinez froze Haaland on behalf of Ajax in the Champions League last season, and beat Dortmund 4-0. The Argentine iron defender dealt with Haaland, mainly through active uptake and movement speed, keeping the Norwegian international away from his own side. goal. But a game doesn’t mean eternity, having a plan to stop Haaland and actually doing it are two different things.

Ten Hag also reminded Manchester United disciples not to just focus on Haaland. “We’re not playing against Haaland, we’re playing against Manchester City, who are the Premier League champions without Haaland. But Manchester United also have confidence in their ability and if we can act as a team, we can beat them. “That’s the belief we need, especially this Sunday.”

At the same time, for Manchester United to beat Manchester City, it is not enough to contain their opponents, they must also score goals. It is basically impossible for Manchester United to outperform the home team in terms of possession rate in this game, so it is necessary to maximize the possession of the ball in the limited possession time. The return of Rashford and Martial helps Ten Hag to realize this tactic.

But the most important person is Eriksen, who needs to drop back into the deeper areas and try to play more aggressive forwards when he has the ball. Bruno Fernandes can then use his passing threat in the final third, sending the ball into space to exploit Rashford’s counter-attack speed.

Ten Hag concluded: “My preparation is to focus on myself, Manchester United want to win every game and there is no difference in the goals on Sunday. We have to do our best, come up with a good plan and implement it properly. I’ve been in a lot of derbies! I know what it’s like, rivalry, confrontation, I know it’s the most important game in the Manchester area. It excites me, you’re going to do everything you can to win it.