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#4 Can United keep a clean sheet?
Manchester United managed their first clean sheet of the season against Burnley FC in their 4th game of the season and as of now, it remains their only clean sheet in the League so far. In the midweek, United managed to secure a clean sheet against PSV and now the defense seems a little bit more balanced. There are still a few errors left in there, but hopefully, things will get better with each passing game. Much of the improvement has been achieved because Mourinho has stuck to the same back two for the last 2 League and 1 midweek European games.
Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof are perhaps the most unconventional central defensive pairing, but they have worked well together because they have a strong adaptive backbone despite the differences in their playing style. Lindelof is the better of the two with the ball and has the intelligence that Mourinho likes in a defender. And Smalling has the experience and the hardcore defending that completes the pairing. However, there’s another aspect of United’s defense that has been overlooked recently – David De Gea.
Despite having only 1 clean sheet in the league so far, De Gea has made 11 saves, only one less than Alisson who has 3 clean sheets and 3 more than Kepa, who has 2 clean sheets. De Gea’s start to the season has been hampered with United’s defensive complications, but the current Golden Glove winner is slowly coming back to his A game and another clean sheet right now would do him wonders.
