Premier League 2019/20: Norwich City vs Manchester United – Tactical Analysis

Norwich City and Manchester United haven’t had such an amazing period in between September and October in the Premier League. The Manchester-based side enjoyed a better form in their last five matches with one win against Leicester City and two draws against Arsenal and Liverpool. A more conservative approach in scoring goals (they only registered ten goals before this match) was one of the reasons that contributed to Man United’s inconsistent form up to now.

Meanwhile, Norwich were also going through an average spell as they managed to win a very hard-fought match against Manchester City while recently drawing against Bournemouth. Similar to their opponent, converting their chances into goals was a major problem as the home side had just a single goal after their match against the blue side of Manchester. With that in mind, there was no doubt that both teams would want to secure a positive result to improve their form.

At the end of the day, only one team were able to do so. Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford’s goals inside the first-half quickly sealed the game for the visitors, with Anthony Martial put the icing on the cake. This tactical analysis will provide an analysis on Man United’s 3-1 win over Norwich City. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will point out what went wrong for Daniel Farke’s tactics against Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s tactics.

Lineups

Norwich entered this match with a hefty injury list, especially at the back-four. Their key defenders in Grant Hanley, Christoph Zimmermann and Timm Klose were out until December, January and June respectively due to different injuries. It left Farke with no choice but to play Ibrahim Amadou as a centre-back, pairing alongside Ben Godfrey.

Meanwhile, another significant absence in Mario Vrančić also left a man short in Norwich’s midfield. Former Borussia Dortmund player Moritz Leitner stepped up to replace him as he joined central midfielder Kenny McLean and the winger duo Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendía to complete the midfield four. Onel Hernández and Patrick Roberts remained doubtful before this match, but the former was given the nod to be on the bench.

On the other hand, Man United had no doubtful players but still missed the service of several of their key players. One of them was centre-back Eric Bailly, who missed out until December through a knee injury. His position was replaced by Sweden centre-back Victor Lindelöf as he paired up alongside Harry Maguire at the heart of Man United’s defensive line.

Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw were another two key players that remained on the sideline until November. Stepping up to fill in their positions were Fred and Ashley Young, who also wore the captain badge. On the bench, Solskjær included three youngsters in Mason Greenwood, James Garner, and Brandon Williams and were willing to give them a few first-team minutes.

Norwichs style of play

It’s quite easy to notice that Norwich entered this match with a more conservative approach compared to what they used to play at the start of the season. Defensively, the home side didn’t press very high up the pitch and instead allowed the opposition to have more time on the ball when they played out from the back. They also put an emphasis on regrouping into the 4-1-4-1 formation and positioned themselves inside their half.

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