Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has claimed the changes he made to his side for the clash with Leicester City had nothing to do with the upcoming game against Liverpool. But when asked after the game if the changes were made with the Reds in mind, Solskjaer said no and explained they were made due to his side’s hectic fixture schedule.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “We started off slow as you might expect because they have not had any time to prepare for the game but after they scored we had nothing to lose This is not the night to be thinking about Liverpool. I’m disappointed because I thought we played well and could have got a point towards the end. We maybe should have created more in the second half but I am happy with them.”
Before Solskjaer continued on his side’s schedule: “It can’t be like this again. We can’t play Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday to Thursday, it is impossible.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “That’s the reason we made the changes. It’s unheard of. It is impossible for the players to perform at this level going from Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday.”
After the game, United midfielder Nemanja Matic said “We had a good team today of course some young players got a chance with some experienced players. We had a good balance. A set-piece decided the game. In some parts of the game we played some amazing football but we didn’t create enough to score a second goal. We had two days [to prepare]. We had some meetings, of course we are not happy with the result, but we played some good football. The youngsters did well and showed great character against a very good side. We have to deal with this situation. In two days we have another big game.”
The Manchester United manager made a raft of changes from Sunday’s win at Aston Villa, with Mason Greenwood the only player to survive. In total Solskjaer made 10 changes to his starting line-up, with 18-year-old duo Amad Diallo and Anthony Elanga both being handed their Premier League debuts. Liverpool were hoping their arch-rivals could do them a favour in their quest for Champions League football next season and claim all three points against the Foxes at Old Trafford. But it was Leicester who ran out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Luke Thomas and Caglar Soyuncu, with Greenwood on target for United. Liverpool are now six points off the Champions League places, although Jurgen Klopp’s side do have a game in hand on their top four rivals.
