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Juventus is coming to Old Trafford for a block-buster Tuesday night Champions League clash against Manchester United. United has bounced back from humiliating defeats by winning against Newcastle at home, and claiming an impressive draw against Chelsea at the Bridge.
As far as Juventus is concerned, they have had a flawless season till last weekend. Genoa shocked The Old Lady by snatching away two points in a 1-1 draw. Nevertheless, Juventus are undefeated this season and will pose a bigger threat to United.
The Red Devils must be at their absolute best to beat Juventus. There are no better managers in the world to handle big opponents than United's Mourinho. The 'Special One' would love to see his men fight with the same spirit as they did against Chelsea.
Here are three key strategies United must adopt against Juventus to hand them their first defeat of the season.
#1 Neutralise Cancelo's threat from the right flank
Juventus threat
Joao Cancelo is in the form of his life with Juventus. He is arguably considered as one of the best right-backs in the world at the moment. His ability to provide dangerous crosses from the right will flag a big threat to United's fragile defense.
In a game against Udinese, Cancelo provided eight threatening crosses to bag the Man of the Match award. With Ronaldo in their side, Juventus would love to follow the same strategy, with Cancelo crossing, and Ronaldo heading the ball towards goal.
United strategy
Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw will be the key duo for United tonight. Martial, who had a splendid outing against Chelsea, must always keep an eye on Cancelo. The French youngster cannot be overly committed to attack, and must provide Luke Shaw the necessary defensive support.
Luke Shaw too must be aware of Cancelo's forward runs while doing overlap-plays with Martial, as Juventus have done well with their counter-attacks this season, especially from the right flank.
#2 Ander Herrera to man-mark Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus threat
Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing his perennial form with Juventus too. The Portuguese captain has scored 5 goals and has provided 5 assists in his 10 appearances for Juventus. He has also bagged 3 Man of the Match awards as well.
However, the Juventus attack hasn't been fluid barring Ronaldo and Mandzukic. Mandzukic has scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists from his 10 appearances. The rest of the attackers and mid-fielders have been below average this season.
United strategy
With Mandzukic injured and out of the Champions League clash tonight, United can isolate Cristiano Ronaldo from attacking mid-fielders like Pjanic and Matuidi. Dybala is in awful form with just 1 goal from 8 appearances in Serie A. Here is where Ander Herrera will be useful.
Herrera has successfully man-marked Eden Hazard multiple times, with his relentless shadowing approach. Mourinho will expect the fit-again Herrera to do the same to Ronaldo. After all, Hazard and Ronaldo are similar styled players. A frustrated Ronaldo will shatter Juventus' chance of scoring goals.
#3 Avoid giving set-pieces to Juventus, and don't park the bus
Juventus threat
Juventus boasts of one of the tallest and well-built line-ups in the world. On the other hand, United is one of the most vulnerable sides defending against set-pieces.
Despite playing really well against Chelsea, Pogba's mistake let Rudiger score a simple header from a corner, out of nowhere. Unfortunately for United, those kind of instances have made them concede multiple goals this season.
United strategy
Manchester United defenders must be very organised, and must not give away unnecessary set-pieces and corners.
With Fellaini out of the clash with injury, United cannot rely much on Herrera, Mata, Martial or Rashford to provide defensive depth. It is best for United not to sit back too much and rely only on counter-attacks, as Juventus will find a way to score a goal.
The best strategy is to press Juventus like they did against Chelsea in the 2nd half at Stamford Bridge. Pogba must be United's linchpin, distributing balls to Rashford and Lukaku to score goals.
