3 key battles as Manchester United take on Burnley

Daley Blind vs Andre Gray

5th August 2016 - Pre-Season Friendly - Burnley v Real Sociedad - Andre Gray of Burnley battles with Raul Rodriguez Navas of Sociedad - Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

The loss of Eric Bailly to a knee injury is a huge blow for Manchester United. The lad looks like he is carved out of stone, and has been rock solid in the main part for the Reds.

Not to second guess Mourinho, but you would surmise Daley Blind will move into centre-half and Luke Shaw into left-back.

Andre Gray, who has been described as “fit, ready and raring to go” by Sean Dyche, could slot back into the Burnley side and be used to stretch the United backline and offer an option in behind.

Dutch international Blind is not the quickest of defenders, and if Sam Vokes starts alongside Gray, in a 4-4-2 system, occupying Chris Smalling, who will look to negate the Welshman’s aerial presence, the returning Gray could be a key weapon in the Burnley armoury.

Even if Gray starts on the bench, a battle between Gray and Blind could come into play in the last 30 minutes of the game. The Clarets will have very little of the ball, so the tactic of hitting it long to Vokes with Gray feeding off the scraps could reap huge dividends for Burnley.

It ain’t pretty, yet could be effective.
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