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Manchester United hosted Leicester City at Old Trafford, with Erik ten Hag keen on closing the gap between the Red Devils and second-placed Manchester City.
The United boss rested a few players, with the Barcelona game on Thursday in mind.
Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof formed the centre-back pairing with Diogo Dalot restored to the side ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Luke Shaw was named on the back of the left flank.
In Casemiro’s absence, Marcel Sabitzer, Fred and Wout Weghorst formed the midfield trio.
Marcus Rashford led the line with Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes on either side of him.
Here are three things we learned from Manchester United’s 3-0 win against Leicester City.
Wout Weghorst extremely poor in the first-half
Weghorst started in the playmaker role for the second game in a row after he also did so at the Camp Nou.
The Dutchman was poor and had a below-par showing in the opening 45 minutes of the game.
Weghorst seemed bereft of ideas and constantly found himself all over the place. The United man misplaced a number of passes. Out of the 23 passes he attempted, five were erroneous.
Weghorst, in his playmaking and creative make-shift position, failed to register any single key pass. United’s creative responsibilities once again fell to Fernandes on the right wing.
The 30-year-old Netherlands international lost 50% of his duels in the air. He also lost possession an astronomic eight times in the first half and was dribbled past on one occasion.
The 6 ft 6 striker seemed to be out of sync with the rest of United’s attackers like Rashford and Fernandes, who seemed on it.
To be fair to Weghorst, he was superb defensively. He made four tackles in the first period – 4. This was more than any other player on the pitch.
However, many will argue that his primary responsibility was to contribute going forward rather than help shore up the back.
Luckily, United went into the break a goal up thanks to Rashford who got on the end of a sublime assist from Fernandes to fire it beyond Danny Ward.
First-half stats obtained from Sofascore
Alejandro Garnacho still not ready for a starting berth
Like Weghorst, Garnacho was also not especially impactful during the 45 minutes he was engaged in action against the Foxes.
The Argentine saw the ball picked from him by the opposition a few times and attacking ventures break down with him.
Given the nod to start ahead of Jadon Sancho, Garnacho failed to justify Ten Hag’s decision to include him in the starting XI.
He simply did not have the influence shown by the likes of Rashford and Fernandes.
It was no surprise that Ten Hag took him off at halftime and brought on Sancho. Sancho was more lethal and even got on the score sheet when he grabbed the Red Devils’ third of the game.
Garnacho’s showing against Leeds proved what some across the fanbase already knew – that Garnacho is still not ready to be a regular starter under Ten Hag.
The 18-year-old’s development will be far better served by coming from the bench and making a difference when required.
At the moment, starting games is a level above Garnacho and he must not be above Sancho in the pecking order.
Rashford currently the most in-form player in the world
There has been much debate about where Rashford currently stands with the best in world football.
Going by the evidence of his performance against Brendan Rodgers’ men, there are a few if any who can claim to be on top of the United number 10.
Rashford extended his red-hot form by scoring twice against Leicester.
When United were struggling early in the game, it was his goal that put the Reds into the lead and gave them a foothold in the game.
His second put the side into a comfortable position before Sancho’s third sealed all three points.
Marcus Rashford makes it 2-0 for Manchester United.
BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD 🌎 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9mqbKw7w3M
— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) February 19, 2023
It reflects well on Rashford that whatever the calibre of opposition, competition or position he plays in, he’s coming up with the goods and being a decisive force in the outcome of games – a valuable trait for the best in the business at the moment.
