Manchester United 2017-18 Premier League champions? Romelu Lukaku to fire us to glory? Here’s how I think our season will pan out:
1. Romelu Lukaku will win the Golden Boot
The Belgian striker gave it a good go with Everton last season but fell short when Harry Kane blitzed the goals chart in his final two games of the season. Romelu Lukaku scored twice versus West Ham on his Premier League debut for us and could have had a few more. Based on that and his goal versus Real Madrid you can expect the big money summer signing to see lots of chances and score lots of goals for us. What’s more, Manchester City are playing two strikers this season so you could expect Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus to share the goals. Alexandre Lacazette could rotate with Olivier Giroud at Arsenal, Liverpool don’t have an out-and-out striker and Michy Batshuayi has started the first two competitive games of the season for Chelsea. When it comes to Jose rotating his squad I think Lukaku will be rested in the domestic cups.
2. Marouane Fellaini will make 25+ appearances
Even with the signing of Nemanja Matic this summer, Marouane Fellaini will not go away. He’s a squad player that Jose Mourinho loves to bring on late in a game or when we’re behind. Michael Carrick is a year older too so I think we’ll see the big Belgian introduced from the substitutes bench a number of times this season.
3. The media will criticise Victor Lindelof at every given opportunity
The media and opposition fans love to criticise our players given the opportunity. Footage of Victor Lindelof making mistakes in pre-season went viral and he didn’t have the best of performances against Real Madrid in the Super Cup. Jose’s played it down by saying the Swedish summer signing needs time to settle in. I do fear for the pressure Victor Lindelof is under and at 23 he doesn’t have as much experience as others so I can see it taking as long as a year before he settles in and therefore I won’t be surprised to see him criticised nationally during the season. I have faith in Mourinho to make Lindelof come good in the end though.
4. Henrikh Mkhitaryan will score 10+ goals
The Armenian had a disappointing debut season at Old Trafford following his move from Borussia Dortmund, perhaps highlighted by being substituted at half-time in our first Manchester derby last season. Henrikh Mkhitaryan struggled to hold down a regular spot in the United first team. However, his performance on the opening day against West Ham shows what he is capable of. Playing in the number 10 role in a 4-2-3-1 formation suits him just perfectly. He scored 11 goals in his final season with Dortmund and was a regular scorer in both Germany and Ukraine before he arrived on English shores. Expect to see Henrikh Mkhitaryan bag a few goals this season having only scored four in the 2016-17 Premier League campaign.
5. We’ll win the league
Chelsea have their problems off the pitch and we pinched Romelu Lukaku right from under their nose. Arsenal have Arsene Wenger in charge so that rules them out of competing for the Premier League title again. I’m not convinced Tottenham will even make top four this season. Liverpool are Liverpool. And I don’t agree with the bookmakers making Manchester City the clear favourites to win the Premier League this season. From what I saw from the Brighton game on opening day, their tactics are still too confusing for the players, they didn’t actually create all that much versus the newcomers (only scoring when Brighton were tired in all honestly). And their biggest weakness from last season hasn’t been fixed – their defence. Ederson in goal looked as shaky as you could possibly be on the odd time the hosts put a cross into the box. They still have John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi in their defence. Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero are due to be sidelined for a lengthy spell of time as they always are. And competing in the Champions League often comes with disappointing results the following weekend for City. We’ve got a very strong squad; I don’t see why we can’t finish top if we stay healthy.
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