Manchester United v Ipswich: Carrick Faces Pressure at Old Trafford

The Premier League season is only a week old, but Manchester United already feel like a team under scrutiny.

A flat, 2-0 defeat at promoted Hull on the opening weekend has left Michael Carrick with uncomfortable questions to answer before Ipswich arrive at Old Trafford this afternoon (4.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League). The optimism that followed last season’s third-place finish and Champions League return has been checked sharply.

United bruised, Ipswich buoyant

Carrick’s permanent appointment in May was supposed to mark a new, stable chapter. The summer window has not matched that mood. Only four signings have arrived – Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Karl Darlow and Carlos Baleba – and the squad still looks thin in key areas, most notably at the back.

Hull exposed those frailties brutally. United were bullied at set-plays, conceding from a corner and then a free-kick, with Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven struggling as a makeshift centre-back pairing. That duo is unlikely to be Carrick’s long-term solution, but the problems run wider than personnel.

Luke Shaw remains vulnerable against pace down the left, while Noussair Mazraoui has yet to convince on the right. United’s back four looks anything but settled, and Ipswich will know it.

The contrast in mood could not be clearer. Ipswich arrive unbeaten in seven, playing with a freedom that has carried them out of pre-season and straight into the campaign. Gary O’Neil’s side opened with a sharp 2-1 win over Sunderland, then backed it up with a 3-1 victory over Leicester in the EFL Cup, underlining both their attacking intent and their defensive looseness.

They have not won at Old Trafford since 1984. On form and confidence, this is as good a chance as they have had in decades to change that.

Old Trafford still expects goals

For all the angst, United are not short of firepower. They created enough against Hull to suggest the goals will come, even if they didn’t that day.

Bruno Fernandes remains the heartbeat, the main source of invention between the lines. Ahead of him, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo carry a consistent threat in and around the box. Mbeumo has hit the target at least once in each of his last three appearances for United and will again be central to Carrick’s attacking plan.

Then there is Marcus Rashford. Left on the bench at Hull, he came on at half-time and carved out four chances, instantly lifting United’s tempo. It would be a major surprise if he does not start here, likely at the expense of Patrick Dorgu. A front four of Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford and Cunha still looks capable of overwhelming most visitors at Old Trafford.

Ipswich, for all their spirit, will do well to keep that lot out for 90 minutes. History, too, leans heavily towards United at home. They have won their last three matches at Old Trafford, all by a single goal, and still know how to grind out results on their own turf.

Yet the numbers around Ipswich’s away form demand respect. The Tractor Boys have lost just one of their last eight on the road, and they travel north with belief, not trepidation.

Ipswich’s edge: set-pieces and speed

If United’s defenders were haunted by Hull’s delivery last weekend, they will not enjoy studying Ipswich’s set-piece routines.

Marcelino Nunez, the Chile international, is O’Neil’s primary dead-ball specialist. He produced eight assists in the Championship last season, finishing joint-eighth in the division, and he now has an obvious target zone to aim for at Old Trafford.

Ipswich are big. Very big in key areas. Issa Diop, the 6ft 5in centre-back, and 6ft 1in striker Emersonn give them serious aerial presence. Against a United back line that looked nervous and disorganised under high balls at Hull, that combination is a clear route to goal. Nunez registering his first assist of the season here would surprise nobody who watched United’s opening-day collapse at set-pieces.

Open play offers danger too. Julio Enciso was outstanding in the win over Sunderland, his pace, dribbling and composure repeatedly stretching the game. With Abdul Fatawu and Daizen Maeda also buzzing around Emersonn in a 4-2-3-1, Ipswich can break quickly and with variety.

They are not watertight at the back – Leicester’s goal in midweek underlined that – but they are fearless. With four straight pre-season wins behind them and two competitive victories already banked, they will not arrive at the Theatre of Dreams to sit in and admire the surroundings.

Discipline, corners and the fine margins

The detail around this contest hints at a tight, edgy afternoon.

United’s recent home wins have all come by a single goal. Ipswich’s seven-game unbeaten run stretches back to April. Carrick, tellingly, is still searching for his first Premier League win against newly promoted sides, with a record of two defeats and one draw.

The small battles could decide it. Corners have been in short supply in recent games for both teams – under ten in United’s last two and in six of Ipswich’s last seven – suggesting this may not be a relentless end-to-end siege, but a more measured, tactical contest where set-pieces carry extra weight.

Discipline will matter too. Diop, aggressive and sometimes rash, was booked three times at the World Cup with Morocco and remains prone to mistimed challenges. Up against the movement of Rashford and Mbeumo, he walks a fine line between dominance and disaster.

Team news and likely XIs

Carrick’s options are still restricted. New signing Carlos Baleba is unavailable due to an ankle problem, while Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Tom Heaton and Amad Diallo also miss out. Mason Mount is back in training but this fixture looks to have come too soon for his return.

United are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1:

• Lammens; Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Tielemans, Santos; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Cunha.
• Subs: Heaven, Dalot, Yoro, Dorgu, Mainoo, Zirkzee, Sesko.

Ipswich have their own absentees. Jaden Philogene, Azor Matusiwa and Jack Taylor are sidelined, but Florentino Luis could rejoin the matchday squad after a calf injury and new signing Exequiel Palacios is available.

O’Neil is also likely to stick with a 4-2-3-1:

• Scherpen; O'Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis; Nunez, Lukic; Fatawu, Enciso, Maeda; Emersonn.
• Subs: Kipre, Ouattara, Florentino, Palacios, Clarke, McAteer, Akpom.

A fragile giant, a rising challenger

So the stage is set. Old Trafford, Sunday afternoon, a restless giant needing a response and a bold visitor with nothing to lose.

United are odds-on favourites – around 21-50 to win – but Ipswich, at 6-1, carry the form, the momentum and the freedom of a side that has not yet been told where its ceiling lies. The draw sits at 4-1 and suddenly feels far less far-fetched than it might have done a month ago.

If Carrick’s side buckle again against newly promoted opposition, the questions around this project will only grow louder. If Ipswich walk back down the tunnel with a result, how long before trips to Old Trafford stop feeling like an upset waiting to happen and start looking like an opportunity?