Van Gaal wary of yet more fan fury

United have endured a very hard season so far and apart from the mediocre results, the fans have been left very frustrated at the defensive approach the Red Devils have adopted under Louis van Gaal. “Hopefully we can put in another performance like this again on Tuesday and take this into the game against Stoke”.

Manchester United host Stoke at Old Trafford on Tuesday priced as bet365’s 8/11 favourites to keep their push for a top-four finish in the Premier League on track with victory.

After all, the Potters handed Van Gaal one of the most chastening defeats of his reign on Boxing Day, when Bojan Krkic and Marko Arnautovic scored in an easy 2-0 win for Mark Hughes’ side. We want to win, of course we always want to win, and we’re trying. Claudio Ranieri’s men then face back-to-back trips to Manchester City and Arsenal, but full-back Christian Fuchs says they will relish each occasion.

With Louis van Gaal under pressure to deliver three points, this is the team we expect the Dutchman will start with at Old Trafford.

“Blind’s goal? You have to sniff it and he sniffed it”, said the manager. I’m really not sure why, but I have a feel United will win this one. With just five wins in the league this season, the Black Cats will be looking for a win as every point matters at this stage of the season.

Ten years on from Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra arrived, and two years after Juan Mata was helicoptered in, United came up empty in much the same way they have on the pitch for much of this term. Arsene Wenger and his men killed the game in the reverse fixture within 20 minutes, scoring 3 goals and clearly outlining the difference in class between the two sides.

Tottenham Hotspur will look to preserve their grip on fourth place when they visit Norwich City, while Chelsea, reeling from the news that captain John Terry will leave the club at the end of the season, go to Watford.

But it was always going to be incomings rather than outgoings that would pique the interest of the fans starved of something to cheer about for so long.