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After a fortnight-long international break, the Premier League returns tonight, and Manchester United gear up to host Carlos Carvalhal's Swansea side for their Matchday 32 clash.
While the reverse leg played out in August resulted in an emphatic 4-0 victory for Manchester United at the Liberty Stadium, conditions and circumstances have changed, although Jose Mourinho will hope for a result as similar as possible to the first match.
FOLLOW | MANCHESTER UNITED VS SWANSEA LIVE
Currently, the Red Devils sit pretty at 2nd on the Premier League table, 2 points ahead of 3rd-placed Liverpool (with a game in hand), and 4 points ahead of 4th-placed Tottenham. A win tonight is bound to increase United's comfort towards finishing the season positively.
On the other hand, Swansea find themselves occupying the 14th place on the table, and a defeat tonight could tip them back into the abyss that is the relegation dogfight.
Pre-match Presser
Both managers, Jose Mourinho and Carlos Carvalhal spoke about a number of facets ahead of the match. Here's a quick look at some of what was said:
Carlos Carvalhal on Jose Mourinho
"He is an inspiration, our king of football. He opened the doors to the new generation of managers to go abroad, he opened the ideas of the world on Portuguese coaches. In the 1960s and 1970s we had a lot of emigration in different worlds, but sometimes one guy can accelerate that idea. He is smart, talks many languages, works in many different countries and I am proud to share a nationality with him. You love him or hate him because of his personality and the controversy. I understand that, but I like him a lot."
Jose Mourinho on Carlos Carvalhal
"I spoke with him last night, he told I was the kind of the coaches, not football, and he said that since my winning period with Porto and since the moment I left the country I open the door for more Portuguese coaches to leave which is something I know is true. I speak with him a couple of times every week, last night I spoke him a little and thanked him for his nice words, one things is to think another is to say."
Jose Mourinho on Swansea and the threat they pose
"They improved a lot, we played them in the beginning but after that they have a diff period and found themselves in a diff situation but since Carlos arrived it’s obvious the team improves a lot. They got the points that many didn’t expect they could get and they are in a position not far from celebrating a fantastic achievement which is to stay in the Premier League. We are going to face a team very well organised in the defensive point of view, they defend really well organised, with a clear idea of their defensive movement and then they are dangerous in counter attack, powerful in set pieces using the aerial ability especially of the three central defenders that are really dangerous and by the mental point of view you can feel fantastic work by Carlos, the team looks happy, confident, they get points almost everywhere, even 10 players at Huddersfield they get a point and they are doing amazingly well.
Pre-match Stats
#1 Manchester United have won all three of their home Premier League games kicking off at 3 pm on a Saturday this season, scoring seven goals and conceding none.
#2 Romelu Lukaku - currently on 99 Premier League goals - has been directly involved in 14 goals in 14 games in all competitions so far in 2018 (10 goals, 4 assists).
#3 The Swans have avoided defeat in three of their last five visits to Old Trafford (W2 D1 L2) in all competitions, having lost eight of their first 10 games there against United.
#4 Jose Mourinho has never lost against Swansea in all competitions (P9 W7 D2 L0), defeating all four of the previous managers he's faced (Laudrup, Monk, Bradley and Clement).
Team News
Manchester United
Jose Mourinho will be glad for the fact that Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, and Ander Herrera will return to the squad. On the other hand, Ashley Young is said to be ruled out after suffering an injury while on international duty with England.
Scottish 21-year-old, Scott McTominay is also expected to return after injuring himself during the international break. Daley Blind, though, is expected to stand no chance of making an appearance.
Swansea
Carlos Carvalhal will have quite a task on his hands as he will have to put together a side bereft of the services of Angel Rangel, Leroy Fer, Wilfried Bony and Renato Sanches, all of whom are sidelined by injuries.
Jordan Ayew will also be conspicuous with his absence as he's currently serving a 3-match ban that will see him miss out on the Swans' trip to Old Trafford.
How Manchester United should line up
[4-3-3] David De Gea (GK); Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba; Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford
