Manchester United’s new manager David Moyes could not have envisaged such tough fixtures to start his career with the Red Devils. Manchester United will face Chelsea, Liverpool and rivals Manchester City in the first 5 premier league games of 2013/2014 season.
If the former Everton manager needed a tough challenge, he has got one straight away. The pressure of managing one of the biggest clubs in the world is already high and then such fixtures early on must have amplified it even more.
The fixture list for 2013/2014 premier league season has been revealed, and the first 5 for United are as follows:
First up, a tricky fixture against the surprise team of last year, Capital One Cup champions Swansea City. Brian Laudrup will be looking to go better than last season and a win against English champions will be a brilliant start. To their benefit, the fixture is not at Old Trafford.
Moyes surely has funds and will reinforce squad to increase the quality and depth. Even if United do win against Swansea, up next they have perhaps the most difficult fixture versus Europa League champions Chelsea.
United lost the corresponding fixture last season as manager Rafa Benitez led Chelsea to victory against Alex Ferguson’s men at Old Trafford. This time though, Jose Mourinho is back and he will surely make things harder for Moyes.
Having featured in many Merseyside derbies against Liverpool, now Moyes will be part of the biggest game in England, Liverpool vs Manchester United. Anfield is one of the hardest place to visit for the opposition.
Two weeks later, United will face Pellegrini’s Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. The Citizens will be eager to regain the league title next season and with a new man incharge, they will be eager to impress and beat Red Devils.
David Moyes faces a stern test to start his career with Manchester United and the first 5 games may as well be decisive for his career as well. Whether or not Moyes will be able to live upto the expectations, only time will tell.
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Moyes will have a tough test, but he should prevail. Nevertheless, although reversal of results in the first 5 games will no doubt put him under pressure but united haven’t hired him for only a season. united will expect to retain title but no one can be assured esp. this season. From the outset it looks to be a very open season in terms of title challenge and top 4. ManCity, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham are realistic contenders of top 4 – only 4 will prevail. While united, city, chelsea as well as arsenal should be genuine title contenders. With new managers this should be a very open challenge. Liverpool & tottenham, if their transfer dealing accordingly then could mount a serious challenge as well. All 6 will be under a lot of pressure. If results do not go accordingly, almost surely heads will roll.
If arsenal fail to make a concerted title challenge OR even worse miss to qualify for champions league, Wenger is almost sure to leave the club.
If united do not retain title, Moyes will be under pressure but should be okay still. However, if united finishes below 2nd, then there will be a lot of pressure.
chelsea will expect to win title under mourinho, but if their performance remain as before, then only God will be able to say what will happen to him as this is the most volatile club i have ever seen (close 2 is Real Madrid).
ManCity will expect to wrestle the title away from united. But Pellegrini should be alright if they play well and make a genuine & sustained effort towards a title push. However, pellegrini’s main challenge will be to significantly improve on Champions League. If they fail to impress like recent past under Mancini then things will be extremely disturbing at management level – but he will be given at least another year going by their patience and nature so far.
Liverpool will need to qualify for champions league this season. If Liverpool manages to recruit their targeted players (which could be as many as 7) AND suarez stays, then they will expect to qualify. If they fail, i am afraid this could be Brendon’s last season at Anfield. There’s a slim chance that FSG may give him a bit more time depending on the performance of the club at the end of season if they make a sustained challenge to make top 4. The problem with Liverpool is their fan-base may expect even more of they do play well. In my opinion, Liverpool’s push towards improvement should be one of the most intriguing aspect this season.
tottenham need to qualify for champions league. but if they loose Bale, it would be difficult. The rate the others are recruiting exciting players, tottenham will not be able to replace with anyone if bale gets away. that means, no matter what, they would be lower in strength than before and that is most concerning for the club. AVB is unlikely to survive another season if club fails to qualify for champions league one way or other.