Matchday Preview: Manchester United FC Vs. Ipswich Town FC

Navin Doodnath

Nov 21, 2024, 01:00 PM ET

Here we are; a next Manchester United Head Coach takes the helm to try to restore the club back to the top of English football. The job, which is often described as “mission impossible”, begins for Ruben Amorim on Sunday as he takes his side to Portman Road to take on Ipswich Town.

United come into this game on some good form since Erik Ten Hag’s departure from the club. The Red Devils are unbeaten in four games having picked up three wins and a draw. Goals have been a huge problem for United this season, but they seem to have found form in recent weeks, scoring eleven goals in their last four games. Amorim faced the English media for the first time today and touched upon what possibly changed, “That is for sure, but it is normal when players don’t win games. You start to be suspicious of the way of playing”. He stated confidence for his players may have been an issue as the results weren’t positive, causing a lot of doubt amongst the squad as well as in the way they were playing. 

Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring Vs. Leicester City. Credit: (Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images.)

Knowing what to expect from a Manchester United team going into a game over the past 10 years has been near impossible with the game-to-game inconsistencies. Now with a new manager who has his own philosophy, it is tough to know what to expect on Sunday at Portman Road. What we do know is that Amorim is very clear on how he wants his teams to play. He has assessed the squad’s biggest weaknesses and earlier today he touched on them saying, “In simple things, I think, if you want to speak about the team and the way we play, I think we lose the ball too often. We have to be better at running back. I think that is clear for everyone and I think we have to be very good on the details”. A glaring issue for United since last season was their defensive transitions and how much space opposing sides had once they turned United over. From the training footage released this week by United, we saw his emphasis on sprinting back and regaining a defensive shape. It will take time to fully see Amorim’s imprint on the team, but he will be implementing his style of football on the group of players he has at his disposal.

Shaw returns to team training. (Image: 2024 Manchester United FC)

The Red Devils have some injury concerns for their trip to Ipswich with Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez after he pulled out of the Argentina squad last week. Leny Yoro and Tyrell Malacia, who are yet to feature for United this season, have been in full team training for a couple of weeks now, but we do not know the status of their availability for this weekend. No update was provided at the press conference earlier today. However, Amorim did speak with club media afterwards with an update on Luke Shaw saying “for example, is feeling fine [Shaw], but we have to build his fitness during games, so we have to be careful. I think he’s a very good player, so I will take care of him and I want these kinds of players that are important in our squad for a long period and not just for a game”. No update was provided on the others, but we should know more on Saturday when the last session before Sunday’s game is completed.

Predicted Starting XI:

Formation: 3-4-3

Onana, Dalot, Martinez, Evans, De Ligt, Mazroui, Ugarte, Casemiro, Fernandes, Amad, Rashford.

Sammie Szmodics opened the scoring for Ipswich away to Spurs.

Ipswich Town come into this weekends game full of confidence after collecting their first win of the campaign away to Tottenham.

Former United Assistant Manager, Kieran McKenna, provided an update on the fitness of his Ipswich Town side. He will be without Chiedozie Ogbene for the remainder of the season with an Achilles tear and striker George Hirst will be sidelined for some time with a knee injury. Nathan Broadhead, Wesley Burns, Jacob Greaves, Jack Taylor and Omari Hutchinson have all been dealing with issues in recent weeks, but all five could feature on Sunday. Kalvin Phillips returns from his suspension after a red card against Leicester, but will have to be assessed by the medical team first.

Predicted Starting XI:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Muric, Davis, Burgess, O’Shea, Tuanzebe, Phillips, Morsy, Szmodics, Hutchinson, Johnson, Delap.