Manchester United will attempt to forget all about last week’s horror show against Hull City as they face another newly-promoted team, Ipswich Town, in their first home game of the season.
Michael Carrick’s side have had a full week to stew over the 2-0 defeat to the Tigers in East Yorkshire where they were on the end of a surprise upset against Sergej Jakirovic’s sprightly outfit.
Carrick was in defiant mood speaking pre-match ahead of the Sunday 4.30pm visit of the Tractor Boys. “It’s the first home game of the season and it’s really one we look forward to, and the supporters coming,” said the head coach.
“I think we had a setback last week, and you want to get back to playing well and winning football matches. It is a tough game, Ipswich obviously had a big result last week as well. So it’ll be another challenge for us. We want a good performance and a win.”
United have been buoyed this week by the addition of midfielder Carlos Baleba, snapped up from Brighton for a fee of around £70million but he won’t be involved on Sunday having picked up an ankle ligament injury in the summer.
Carrick added: “We’re delighted with Carlos. He has massive potential. I think it’s a really exciting signing for us. I think the quality that he has, the attributes that he has, that offsets a little bit of the balance of the group that we’ve got.”
Sunday’s visitors are already off the mark thanks to a last-gasp 2-1 win at home to Sunderland last week on their Premier League return. That victory helped settle a few early-season nerves around Portman Road following a turbulent summer where Kieran McKenna was replaced by Gary O’Neil in the hotseat and hundreds of millions were spent in the transfer market.
Ipswich are clearly determined to right the wrongs of two seasons ago when their long-awaited return to the top table of English football turned out to be a disaster. The 2024-25 campaign was Town’s first in the top flight for 23 years but in the end they won just four games and were relegated at a canter.
Against Sunderland their new-look array of forwards caught the eye, especially Julio Enciso who was in dazzling form. Emersonn also impressed, scoring on debut. It gives supporters hope that they can look forward to a much more positive stay in the Premier League.
Next up, though, is a mighty task as they head to Old Trafford looking for a first win there since 1984. Previewing the test that awaits his side, O’Neil said: “This is one of the most talented groups in the country we face. I think they were the best team in the league, weren’t they, for the second half of last season or from when Michael Carrick took over? They were an incredible force and Old Trafford always tests you.
“It’s Man United away. We can’t just go there and play some lovely football. We’re going to have to scrap and fight and give everything we’ve got. Equally, there’s absolutely no fear in this dressing room about what we’re going into. There’s respect for what a quality team they are, but we go there with a real belief in what we do and what we’re building.
“We’ll definitely be giving it a go.”
