Manchester United’s promising preseason tour continues to roll, on as the Red Devils now travel to Singapore to face off against Serie A side Inter Milan.
It’s been a fruitful campaign for United so far, who have scored six goals in two games while not conceding in either.
They’ll face their toughest opposition so far on Saturday, as the Italian side have improved in recent seasons, and will be a proper litmus test for a young Man United team.
Form
As mentioned prior, the Red Devils have made a tremendous start to their preseason. It began with a friendly against Perth Glory, who were finalists in the A-League playoffs the season before.
It took a while for United to get going, but Marcus Rashford eventually broke the deadlock at the hour mark, drilling a shot into the bottom corner with his weaker left foot.
James Garner added another with five minutes to go, capitalizing on a defensive turnover to smash one into the back of the net.
It was a more dominant performance against Leeds United, as United put four past their bitter rivals. Mason Greenwood opened the scoring with a tap in before Rashford grabbed another following a classic counter-attack.
Phil Jones headed home from a corner minutes into the second half, and Anthony Martial wrapped the game up with a coolly converted penalty kick. The start has brought some much-needed hope to the United fanbase, who are once again excited to see their team play again.
It could be a different story on Saturday, however, as Inter Milan are a much better team than those who United have faced before.
After qualifying for the Champions League for a second straight year, the Italian side brought in Antonio Conte to be their new manager. He got off to a winning start to his tenure, as Inter defeated Swiss side Lugano 2-1.
They took the lead at the half-hour mark through Stefano Sensi in some fashion, as the midfielder curled a shot into the top corner from distance. Marcelo Brozovic doubled their advantage on the stroke of halftime, smashing a shot into the side netting. Lugano would get one back late, but Inter were able to hold on for the opening day win.
Last time out
Despite being two of Europe’s elite, the sides haven’t faced off since a preseason matchup in 2014. It was a much different time back then, as Louis Van Gaal was just starting up at United, while Inter were lead out by Roberto Mancini.
It was a dull affair that ended 0-0 on the night, as neither team managed to create any clear cut chances. That meant penalties were needed to decide the winner, and the Red Devils managed to convert all of theirs, while a miss from Marco Andreolli would untimely cost Inter the game. Let’s just hope we’ll see a more exciting contest this Saturday.
Predicted lineups
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw, McTominay, Matic, Pogba, James, Rashford, Martial
Inter Milan: Handanovic, D’Ambrosio, De Vrij, Škriniar, Candreva, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Sensi, Perišic, Esposito, Longo
What to watch for
A first look at the proper starting lineup?
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done a wonderful job of rotating the team so far this preseason, giving plenty of minutes to youngsters and fringe players.
However, that might somewhat change against Inter, as the Norwegian might choose to roll out his strongest eleven against talented opposition.
There’s less than a month before the Red Devils start their Premier League campaign against Chelsea, so there isn’t much time for the first team to gel together.
They’ll get to do that in the next few games, and the starting lineups in these matches could be an early indication on who will start on opening day for United.