Manchester United will have to attack more freely to win against Luton Town

Manchester United will take on Luton Town on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Old Trafford in a Premier League match. Luton is fresh from their 1-1 draw with Liverpool last Sunday and will want to repeat the act against United, too.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, stare at an exit from the group stage after their 3-4 away defeat to FC Copenhagen. They will want to make amends in the Premier League by improving upon their current eighth position with 15 points from 11 matches.

Manchester United will have to play attacking football

Manchester United will have to play attacking football: Draw is not an option for United on Saturday, as they should be able to beat a team like Luton at home. In this context, they will have to reconsider their decision to play with a 4-2-3-1.

Playing with a couple of holding midfielders might not be a great idea when a team wants to break open a dour defence. However, Casemiro’s absence means that Erik ten Hag will have to choose between Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen and Sofyan Amrabat in finalizing his two holding midfielders.

Starting with Eriksen and McTominay could be the idea, but that will mean that his team cannot switch to a 4-1-4-1 to attack with more intensity, as Eriksen cannot play as a lone defensive midfielder.

Hence, it will probably be better to go with Amrabat and McTominay as the two holding midfielders. Amrabat can play as a lone holding midfielder, which will enable McTominay to venture forward more often.

United will not get much space in the final third

Embed from Getty Images

Manchester United forwards unlikely to get much space in the final third: It can be said without much doubt that Luton will not allow much space to the United’s forwards. The likes of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho will have to work their way out through tight spaces. Hence, they might find it difficult to play crosses to Rasmus Hojlund, who scored through a couple of tap-ins against Copenhagen.

The roles of Manchester United’s full-backs will be very crucial in this regard, with someone like Diogo Dalot getting a chance to show his attacking prowess.

However, it remains to be seen whether he starts as a left-back or plays in his preferred position as a right-back in place of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Irrespective of whichever combination Ten Hag decides to go with, the full-backs will have to combine well with the wingers on Saturday for Manchester United to score goals.