Champions League Wednesday Preview PT 2

Manchester United have a fixture against Villareal on Wednesday and this one could be anything but simple. The Red Devils have made some big statements at times this season and then regressed back to their doldrums from last season - their loss against Aston Villa at the weekend being the most notable.

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The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo has been a big statement but even CR7 can’t fix all of United’s problems and many of them are rooted in a lack of organization and unbalanced lineups coming from the manager. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer always seems to pull off results when he genuinely needs them to save his position but the continuous dropping of points when they face off against sides they should be beating easily continues to be his key hangup. 

Whispers are already starting to circulate that he might be sacked mid-season if United are not able to maintain a considerable title challenge. They started a bit off kilter last season and it looks as though that is continuing this time around. The match against the Spanish opposition looks like it could wind up being an opportunity for him to get the momentum back on his side. 

United go into the contest with a best price of around 6/11 to get the result in front of their home fans and that looms as a real potential banana skin for the Norwegian manager. A loss on a big stage like this and the potential to not go through to the next round of the competition would be something that might trigger conversations back in the board room. 

With the talent United have at their disposal, one would reckon they should be able to trot our a decent result here but going a goal down early could set in some panic. Does Solskjaer have what it takes to deploy the right tactics? That remains to be seen. 

Villareal can be backed around a 6/1 listing while the draw trades around an 18/5 margin and that might be an interesting option for the neutral punter.