Manchester United vs QPR 2014 EPL Round 4 preview, tips and teams

Luis van Gaal could be forgiven for wearing a frown at the moment, following an extremely rocky start to life at Old Trafford. Given his predecessor’s complete failure to live up to his “chosen one” nickname, and the fact that Manchester United were able to secure two or three top signings during the transfer window, it is understandable that many Manchester United fans were hoping for more than two draws and a loss at the beginning of the new season.

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A lot of pundits are relying on the old chestnut: “missing out on Europe will help Manchester United recover” to gloss over the fact that Manchester United have been in trouble for well over a season. A game that once upon a time, on paper looked like a walkover for Manchester United, now seems daunting although fans will look to new signings Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao to provide some much-needed inspiration, while at the back Luke Shaw has been drafted in to shore up a rather thin looking defence after the departure of Rio Ferdinand, who departed for Queens Park Rangers at the end of last season.

Daley Blind, Marcus Rojo and Ander Herrera make up the rest of Manchester United’s signings this season and Luis van Gaal will be expected to more than make do with these stars. A few of these signings however were unable to make the difference against League One minnows MK Dons who handed out a baffling 4-0 thrashing to the hapless Manchester United. The obvious knee-jerk reaction to such a result was to immediately look back on last season and David Moyes’ disastrous tenure which saw Manchester United drop to their lowest finish in over 20 years. On the plus side for Manchester United going into this weekend’s game only Michael Carrick is set to miss out with an ankle ligament problem.

Van Gaal seems to prefer a 3-5-2 formation in order to crowd the midfield whilst having two wingers to drop back into defensive positions should need be. This is an alien set up for existing Manchester United players, however given the million pound contracts handed out at Carrington over the last few decades, one might forgive Van Gaal for raising an eyebrow at players who seemingly balk at the idea of flexibility or operating outside of their traditional positions.

QPR for their part could be forgiven for being more upbeat at the idea of playing Manchester United than they have been in some years currently occupying a position two places above in the Barclays Premier League table. Manchester United are in a group of eight teams who’ve yet failed to record a win in the fledgling season. QPR are not in that group having recorded a win against Sunderland just prior to the international break. The problem for Van Gaal, and indeed a boon for QPR is that the Red Devils are expected to win this particular fixture, an expectation that has failed to be met against teams that Manchester United have routinely destroyed in their illustrious history.

TIP: Manchester United 1-2 Queens Park Rangers

Teams:

Manchester United (Possible, 3-4-1-2): De Gea; Evans, Rojo, Shaw; Rafael, Herrera, Blind, Di María; Mata; Rooney, Van Persie.
Out: Carrick (ankle), Fellaini (foot), James, Wilson (unspecified), Johnstone (elbow), Jones (hamstring), Lingard (knee), Smalling (groin), Young (groin).

QPR (Possible, 4-4-1-1): Green; Isla, Caulker, Ferdinand, Hill; Phillips, Sandro, Kranjcar, Hoilett; Fer; Austin.
Out: Faurlin (knee).
Test: Barton (hamstring).

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