Manchester United boss, Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer will be looking to uncork his winning formula and win against Leeds United at the Elland Road on Sunday, and what Edinson Cavani can bring to the table for the visitors is bound to worry The Whites’ boss, Marcelo Bielsa .
At 34, Cavani has emerged as the most resourceful Premier League substitute role player so far in the 2020/2021 season, having scored an impressive four goals and two assists, according to the statistics published by Gambling.com.
Overall, the Uruguay international has netted eight Premier League goals and two assists for United this term. And that he has scored in three consecutive games ahead of this weekend’s game is bad news for Leads.
Cavani has punched his weight as and proven to be a great acquisition for United who signed him as a free agent last October. According to the Gambling.com report, with his 10 goals in all competitions so far, the Uruguayan has emulated only Cristiano Ronaldo who was the first United’s number 7-shirted player to hit that figure in one season
The statistics also show that Cavani is better than Liverpool left-winger, Diogo Jota, with two goal assists in the list of players with most goal contributions as subs so far in the 2020/2021. Fabio Silva (wolves), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Antonio Martial (Manchester United), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) and James Maddison (Leicester City) also make the top seven.
Photo credit: @ECavaniOfficial (Twitter)
The Red Devils’ morale are buoyed by their five-game winning streak ahead of Sunday’s clash. Though they mauled Leeds United 6-2 at Old Trafford last December, Solskjaer recognises The Whites as big opponents of United dating back to his days and his father’s playing days at the club. And the Cavani spark which is rubbing off on Solskjaer:s winning team will be key for the boss in Sunday’s clash.
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“You know, that game, we started unbelievably well – we scored in our first two attacks – and it was never a 6-2 win. We’ve look at it, we’ve analysed it ourselves, and I don’t expect the same scoreline because the difference between the teams was not four goals,” Solskjaer said of United’s win against in December during his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“We were clinical. We scored some fantastic goals. We had some great saves by David at important times. Just before half-time, it could have easily been 4-2, just after half-time they had chances there as well. We know we will be stretched physically and mentally in this game. It’s a completely unique game of the season.”
Solskjaer says that the rivalry between United and Leeds is subsisting.
He said: “They [Man United – Leeds United clashes] mean a lot to me. We know the history about the Leeds of the old days, Super Leeds, that was the generation before mine. That was my dad’s generation and he’s grown up with seeing them winning the league.
“I’ve played in some massive games against Leeds. We had a proper challenge from that team in early 2000s, with for example Eirik, Eirik Bakke, played for them. We as a team got stretched against them, we looked forward to those games and we had some fantastic games. There was respect for the level, they stretched us. I feel the same now with Leeds team coming up this year. They’ve shown their quality and they’re going to stretch us. We have to be ready for this game, physically and mentally.”
