Manchester United trio and Man City target in Premier League’s worst XI of the weekend
Three Manchester United players make the worst XI, and a fair few were just pipped to their positions by some newly-promoted lads.
Here is that worst XI based on WhoScored ratings from the weekend’s top-flight action…
GK: Wes Foderingham (Sheffield United) – 4.8
He’s made 10 more saves than any other goalkeeper, by virtue of the players in front of him being just as pants as he is, but Foderingham looks entirely out of his depth and conceded five more against Arsenal to take his tally to 29 against in 10 games.
He was valued at £400k when Sheffield United signed him from Rangers on a free transfer in 2020 and he’s currently playing to that valuation. He spent three years with Swindon Town in League One before his move north of the border, and that division is a far better match for his quality than the Premier League, where he appears to be consistently surprised by the power of shots and quality of finishing.
RB: Vitinho (Burnley) – 5.1
The Brazilian was nowhere to be seen as Marcus Tavernier missed a very presentable chance on his side, then passed the ball to Philip Billing for the midfielder to lob James Trafford and win the six-pointer for Bournemouth.
CB: Tom Lockyer (Luton) – 5.5
An own goal isn’t a good way to endear yourselves to the WhoScored powers that be, and it was a very avoidable one, with Lockyer getting himself in quite the tangle facing the wrong way.
CB: Jonny Evans (Manchester United) – 5.6
Erik ten Hag may claim his defenders “played a very good game”, but Evans’ fellow centre-back Harry Maguire (6.1) didn’t do much better and centre-back turned left-back Victor Lindelof (6.0) was even worse in a 3-0 defeat.
LB: Luke Thomas (Sheffield United) – 5.7
The Leicester loanee didn’t seem to do anything particularly badly against Arsenal, and actually you could say he kept Bukayo Saka relatively quiet. He’s been tarred with the brush of a team conceding goals for fun.
CM: Christian Eriksen (Manchester United) – 5.8
His midfield partner Sofyan Amrabat can count himself lucky to avoid the worst XI, and we can’t help but feel sorry for Eriksen, who should be conducting play in a dominant football team rather than doing the basics of running and tackling which, quite frankly, are beneath him.
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CM: Oliver Norwood – 5.5 (Sheffield United)
He did pretty well to reach Fabio Vieira in the box to kick him, but kick him he did.
AM: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) – 5.8
No shots, one dribble and Gibbs-White lost possession more often (five times) than any other Forest player. Comfortably his worst display of the season.
RW: Lucas Paqueta (West Ham) – 6.1
A stunning bit of skill to beat Nathan Patterson early on, but the Everton full-back had his number from then on. Paqueta very nearly gifted Jack Harrison a goal and otherwise strolled around with an air of superiority which can grind when he’s not playing well.
Manchester City are reportedly still keen, and West Ham may need to get rid of David Moyes if they want to get the best out of the Brazil international.
Lucas Paqueta tries to wake up West Ham fans
ST: Carlton Morris (Luton Town) – 5.8
He’s scored three and assisted one of Luton’s nine goals this season, and without those contributions they would be rock bottom on one point. It’s very difficult to achieve a high rating as a striker when you have just eight touches in the opposition half, and none in the box.
LW: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) – 6.0
One successful dribble from five is a telling statistic for a player who was breezing past defenders for fun last season. He was also scoring plenty of goals last term and now hasn’t managed to find the net in 654 minutes in all competitions.
We’re yet to see all that much of this fabled link-up with Rasmus Hojlund that’s been so prosperous in training. Something may have to give before we’re given the chance, and it may well be Rashford.
