JAMIE REDKNAPPJAMIE REDKNAPP
MY TEAM
OF THE
WEEKEND
O’CONNELLBURNDIGNEMANESTERLINGPUKKITOUCHES of the
ball by Ceballos —
the most by any Arsenal
player against Burnley3
PUKKI is the first Norwich
player to score a PL hat-trick
since Efan Ekoku in 199397
AARONSDE BRUYNECEBALLOSMADDISONPICKFORD4-3-3
MY VERDICT ON THIS WEEKEND’S PREMIER LEAGUE ACTION
I WAS sitting alongside Ashley Cole at
Stamford Bridge yesterday when he
announced, live on television, that he is
retiring from playing football. I faced Ashley a
few times, and he used to like giving you a
kick! But what a player. The game has evolved
with the modern full back expected to
contribute in attack as well as defence.
Ashley was always at the forefront of that.SADIO MANE is making a great case to
be considered Liverpool’s main man
above Mohamed Salah.
The 27-year-old is producing magic on
the pitch and would walk into any team.
He showed that against Southampton,
scoring a screamer then setting up
Roberto Firmino to confirm the 2-1 win.
The statistics highlight his impact.
No one has scored more Premier League
goals than him in 2019. He took his tally
to 15 on Saturday, and not a single one of
those has come from the penalty spot.
In Liverpool’s last 30 games, Mane has
scored 20 goals, Salah has put away 12
and Firmino eight.
It is three years ago this week that Mane
made his league debut for Liverpool,
scoring the fourth goal in a 4–3 win at
Arsenal. He is now performing as well as
he has ever done under Jurgen Klopp.Magic Mane would
walk into any team
SOME of you might
remember Fabrizio
Ravanelli marking his
Premier League debut
for Middlesbrough in
1996 by scoring a hat-
trick against Liverpool.
Teemu Pukki is enjoying a
similarly lethal start to
life in the top flight.
All three of his
finishes against
Newcastle were
impressive, and he will
have woken up yesterday
feeling like he belongs at
this level. Ravanelli
finished the 1996-97
season with 16 goals for
Boro. Let’s see how many
Pukki gets for Norwich.(^) IN ASSOCIATION WITH
11
PREVIEW
Monday
Night
MOLINEUX, KICK-OFF 8pm – LIVE ON
SKY SPORTS MAIN EVENT
OLD TRAFFORD CLUB HAVE NEVER REPLACED
THE RIO-VIDIC PARTNERSHIP... UNTIL NOW
IT CAN be no coincidence that shortly
after Harry Maguire breezed through
the doors at Old Trafford, talk began
to swirl about a new contract for
Victor Lindelof.
They are the latest central defensive
pairing United have turned to in their
interminable quest to replace the Rio
Ferdinand-Nemanja Vidic axis.
United feel they have finally got it right
and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has
them down as his first-choice
partnership.
Maguire, whose leadership qualities
have already made an impact around
the Carrington training ground, has
come in on wages of around £200,000 a
week. It would be prudent, therefore,
for United to tie down Lindelof ahead of
his peak years. Lindelof ’s performances
over the past year are certainly worthy
of a hike in wages from his current
£65,000 a week.
The players slotted in together
seamlessly against Chelsea last week.
They are young, Maguire is 26, Lindelof
25, and could be the bedrock for United
for the next five or six seasons.
‘We’ve only played one game,’ warned
Solskjaer. ‘We want the partnership to
develop. I hope Victor and Harry don’t
give me a reason to change. No injuries,
suspensions or lack of concentration.
They can both play, they read the game
really well.’
On Maguire he added: ‘It’s great for any
centre back to have that presence next
to them. I’m sure Victor will enjoy that.’
Maguire’s presence is precisely what
Lindelof has needed to accelerate his
own progression as a player. The lack of
physicality alongside him has in the
past seen the Sweden international go
into battle for balls more imposing
defenders devour. While Maguire will
undoubtedly improve the team, his
presence in the side should help the
man next to him as well.
Lindelof and Maguire will start against
Wolves at Molineux tonight, with
Solskjaer suggesting that 21-year-old
academy product Axel Tuanzebe is his
third-choice central defender while
Eric Bailly is out with a long-term
knee injury.
That will be pretty grim news for Phil
Jones and Chris Smalling, who
Solskjaer always seems to refer to as a
pair, and who must now be wondering
what future they have at United.
United rejected a loan offer from
Everton for Smalling over the summer,
while Sportsmail understands Jones
was discussed informally as a possible
makeweight for Maguire before United
coughed up the world-record £80million
fee to Leicester. Jones’s name was also
mentioned as United made tentative
enquiries about West Ham’s Issa Diop.
Bizarrely, despite their futures
appearing far from settled, both Jones
and Smalling have signed new
contracts since December.
United also have Marcos Rojo on their
books. The Argentinian is out of favour
and could depart before the European
transfer window closes on September 2
after seeing a deadline-day switch to
Everton collapse.
As Solskjaer was willing to admit, it is
hard to keep that many centre halves
happy. ‘At the moment I’ve got six fit
centre halves, which is maybe one too
many to keep everyone involved,’
he said.
The United manager insists that all
seven of his central defenders are
capable of playing the way he wants,
with Tuanzebe having impressed during
last season’s loan spell at Aston Villa,
even allowing for a three-month break
after a metatarsal fracture.
‘Pre-season was a great chance for Axel
to show what he’s capable of,’ Solskjaer
said. ‘I’ve seen him at Villa, I’ve seen
him in midfield here and at right back.
We know he’s going to be a big, big part
of this club in the future. He probably
impressed me more than I expected.
That’s why he’s on the bench. Axel is
knocking on the door.’
But Solskjaer will hope he doesn’t have
to open that door yet. He’d dearly love
to stick with a settled duo of Maguire
and Lindelof for the foreseeable future.
BY JACK GAUGHAN
WOLVES
(probable, 3-5-2)
Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty,
Neves, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Jonny;
Jimenez, Jota.
MAN UTD
(probable, 4-3-3)
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof,
Shaw; Pogba, McTominay, Pereira;
Rashford, Martial, Lingard.
takes an aerial route over Todd Cantwell GETTY IMAGES
brought crashing to earth in the defeat GETTY IMAGES
Have United finally
cured their back pain?