Manchester United face a Roma side on Tuesday night that has made a blistering, record-breaking start to the Serie A season in terms of goals. Gian Piero Gasperini's team won 5-2 at Udinese on Saturday to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games at the start of the campaign, scoring 28 goals in those fixtures – more than they had ever previously managed by this stage of the season.
Malen leads the scoring charge
Former Aston Villa forward Donyell Malen has been the standout performer, scoring eight league goals so far this season and 11 in 12 appearances across all competitions. However, it has been a team effort, with no other player contributing more than three Serie A goals so far, and the widespread contributions have pleased Gasperini.
“Sometimes the numbers do tell you the story,” he said after the dominant win at Udinese. “Besides scoring lots of goals, we're also scoring with many different players. That shows how much confidence there is in the team: lots of players believe they can make a decisive contribution, be it with an assist or a goal. We're scoring more goals with more players and that's a great sign.”
Young talents making their mark
Portuguese teenager Rodrigo Mora and 23-year-old defender Daniele Ghilardi were both on the scoresheet against Udinese on Saturday. Gasperini also has a number of exciting young players in his squad, with the likes of Emanuele Lulli, 19, Niccolo Pisilli, 22, Matias Soule, 23, and Santiago Castro, 22, all scoring in Serie A this season.
“I'm lucky to have all my players – even the not-so-young ones – who really listen to me,” said the manager. “Youngsters nearly always do that because they're keen to establish themselves and improve. I'm lucky because we have a great mix of players. We may have other shortcomings but they all give me everything.”
Contrasting fortunes at Old Trafford
The feelings could hardly be more contrasting at Old Trafford, as Manchester United made it nine games without a victory thanks to a 2-0 loss at Chelsea on Saturday. The defeat in west London, which saw Lisandro Martinez shown a red card, leaves Michael Carrick's men 17th in the Premier League table, having also picked up just three points from three Champions League outings.
Carrick is expected to still be in charge on Tuesday against Roma, but this winless run cannot continue much longer for him to keep hold of his job.
