Man U vs. Swansea City
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 3PM
Manchester United head into today’s Premier League clash with Swansea City knowing that victory will create a 12-point lead over fifth-placed Chelsea in the race to secure a Champions League spot for next season.
Swansea are unbeaten in their last two fixtures in the top flight, but their below-par display in the 3-0 FA Cup setback against Tottenham Hotspur has left Carlos Carvalhal with work to do ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.
Over the last two weeks, all of the talk at Old Trafford has been in relation to Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Jose Mourinho will be pleased to get back to action on the pitch as his side look to end the season with a flourish.
In most years, a return of 65 points from 30 league games would see United still competing for the top-flight crown and most United supporters will recognise that neighbours Manchester City have simply been too good this season, but the Champions League exit to Sevilla has left a storm cloud hovering over the Theatre of Dreams.
Whether United finish in second place in the league and lift the FA Cup could depend on Romelu Lukaku, who is now up to 24 strikes for the season and who has contributed either a goal or assist in 10 of his 13 matches since the start of 2018.
On the other hand, Swansea have emerged as the surprise package of the second half of the campaign but despite sitting in 14th place with a game in hand, the Welsh outfit are still far from securing their top-flight status for another 12 months.
The Swans have been superb at the Liberty Stadium, with the club’s only setbacks at their home ground under Carvalhal coming against Tottenham Hotspur, but it has been seven matches since the club last recorded a win on the road.
Man U possible XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Mata, Sanchez, Martial, Lukaku.
Swansea City possible XI: Fabianski, Naughton, Van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Ki, King, Clucas, Ayew, Abraham.