Jose Mourinho rang the changes for Saturday's game against Huddersfield Town, with the United boss eager to shake things up after the disappointing
midweek defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
Graeme Souness was even blunter and said that it was a concern that Theo Walcott had said after the match that the desire and intent from the team came about as a response to
the midweek defeat by Olympiacos and he is right.
It's a dire start for the reigning champions, and Mourinho has found himself under immense pressure — particularly following consecutive league defeats to West Ham United and Liverpool, as well as
the midweek defeat by Stoke City in the Capital One Cup.
Not exact matches
Spurs were
defeated by top - four rivals Leicester in
midweek, and head into Saturday's match in fourth place in the table, having won nine and lost only three of their 21 matches to date.
However,
defeat to Palace last week, followed
by their poor showing against Ludogorets
midweek, a big performance this time out is needed if they are to have any hope of avoiding an all out nosedive.
Chelsea players were reportedly left «irked»
by the behaviour of Antonio Conte after the 3 - 0
defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League in
midweek.
The triumph was the perfect response
by the Gunners following the dismal Capital One Cup
defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in
midweek, and Arsene Wenger has every reason to be happy with his troops.
Now another
defeat by City
midweek and a thrashing
by AC Milan and Wenger will have nothing to hide his face with and will have no choice but to resign or get fired!
The Belgian international was at fault for the
defeat to Barcelona in
midweek, and coul have done more to prevent the opening goal
by Jordan Henderson this afternoon...
A 2 - 1
defeat to Everton in
midweek, followed
by a loss against Manchester City
by the same score line means that the Gunners are now nine points behind table leaders Chelsea.
Arsenal bounced back from last weekend's
defeat to a team not to be mentioned in
midweek,
by beating Leicester City 2 - 1, to keep us within a point of the Champions League places.
Not your average football book
by any means, and one that puts that
midweek defeat away to your nearest rivals into perspective.
Contrasting results earned
by Arsenal and Liverpool this
midweek on their English Premier League fixtures as Gunners suffered a shock
defeat from Swansea while The Reds Thumped Huddersfield Town.
Accra Hearts of Oak's season is in ruins after they were
defeated 3 - 1
by Ghana Premier League new boys Karela FC, with William Opoku Mensah netting a hat - trick, however the
midweek action elsewhere was marred
by crowd trouble.
They have won four of their last five and perhaps most impressively of all, after they suffered a bit of a cruel home
defeat against Arsenal last weekend, they snapped back immediately
by going out on the road and taking a
midweek win at Bournemouth.
Tottenham Hotspur's journey in Carabao Cup this season ended this
midweek as Mauricio Pochettino's men surprisingly
defeated by West Ham United 3 - 2 at Wembley Stadium.
The 28 - year - old scored for Russia in the country's
defeat by France in
midweek and also found -LSB-...]
The Italian's case doubtless would have been not helped
by his part in the Carabao Cup
defeat to Championship side Bristol City in
midweek, though Mourinho confirmed he was injured.
Our 14 - match streak, which rose from the ruins of an opening - day
defeat to Liverpool, was stopped in
midweek by their Merseyside rivals.
Both are struggling with hamstring injuries, with Bidwell joining Vibe on the treatment table after limping out of the
defeat by Hull in
midweek.
Victorien Angban helped Waasland - Beveren into the last eight of the Belgian Cup in
midweek; their 2 - 0 win over Eupen was then unfortunately followed
by a 4 - 1 league
defeat at Kortrijk, with the Ivorian midfielder featuring for every second along the way.
The Reds got over their shock
defeat at Swansea last weekend
by thumping Huddersfield in
midweek and are carrying hot home form.
But a
defeat against Barcelona and a difficult game against Southampton in the
midweek followed
by United in League Cup present all new frontier for Pep who has never been in this kind of situation.