2. Midfield
Michael Laudrup wasted no time in bringing in reinforcements this summer, including former Liverpool midfielder
Jonjo Shelvey and another year-long loan arrangement for Villarreal's
Jonathan De Guzman, who was instrumental in the Swans' stellar 12/13 season. Leon Britton is very likely to start and will want to get his team's metronomic passing game going as quickly as possible in front of their home crowd. Last season, he played a total of 1,614 accurate passes in the league at a completion rate of 91%. Michael Carrick, meanwhile, completed 2,443 league passes at a completion rate of 88%. Interestingly, 37% of Carrick's accurate passes were played forwards - more than anyone else in the league (more stats
here). With regards to United, David Moyes' preferred midfield setup for much of their underwhelming preseason consisted of Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley and Anderson. While Carrick has won over many doubters after a superb title-winning campaign, question marks remain over whether Cleverley and Anderson can start to impose themselves on games on a more consistent basis. However, if Moyes does opt to start Jones to diminish Michu's influence, it could mean that one of them is forced to watch on from the bench.