Manchester United won the FA Cup third round on Saturday, beating Derby County 2-0 at Old Trafford and will now have a short rest before more January action. Goals from Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku may have come a bit late in the match, with the Englishman and Belgian scored in final six minutes, but a comfortable win was sealed.
With Stoke City losing 2-1 at Coventry City, that means Manchester United will get to have a warm-weather travel before their next Premier League clash. United will play on Monday, 15 January against Stoke City and the week before that match will use to travel to Dubai.
Jose Mourinho talked after a win against Derby how much the players wanted to go to Dubai.
“If you have a replay, we don’t go to Dubai and everybody wants to go. Did you see the players celebrating the second goal? Everybody wants to have a week of good training, good facilities, sun”, Mourinho said in a press conference afterwards.
Manchester United Back To Winning Ways
This was United’s second consecutive wins after a four-match winless run. Wins against Everton and Derby were both good and comfortable and defence managed to keep two clean-sheets. The Reds have improved in these matches, creating more chances than in previous matches, but also failing to make poor choices defensively and conceding cheap goals.
Jesse Lingard keeps on giving as he continues the form of his life, while other players have improved as well. Anthony Martial had a couple of good outings, Luke Shaw has been consistent at left-back despite Mourinho not being thrilled with him overall. Ander Herrera, as well, had a good game against Derby and hopefully that means he will be in fine form for the rest of January matches.
United will host Stoke on Monday in eight days’ time. Five days later, the Reds will be going to Burnley in their quest of finally beating the Sean Dyche side. The two teams drew 2-2 on Boxing Day as Lingard’s brace earned Manchester United a point. The weekend that will follow, on 27 January, will see Mourinho’s team play in FA Cup, before a travel to Wembley on last day of January to play against Tottenham.
What This Means For Manchester United’s Transfer Window?
Jose Mourinho recently said he does not know anything about the possible business in the transfer market and that he would not expect too much activities from Manchester United. That in itself could mean the transfer rumours connecting the club and several players are just that – rumours. Yet, with United going away in United Arab Emirates and far from centre of attention, the club are hardly expected to do any business in the market.
Manchester United are in need of a left-back and possibly another central midfielder, but it is hard to see that happening. Other clubs, like Liverpool for example, should bring in some new faces, but not United. Unless there are new developments regarding Ryan Sessegnon, the club will not do much. The young Englishman could be a player for the future, while rumours about Antoine Griezmann, Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura only seem to be an entertainment for the masses.
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