London: a comfortable win in Tottenham Hotspur who had a problem and then escaped from Cristiano’s inspired defeat in the hands of Atalanta had taken some hot Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But the more severe health tests will come on Saturday when they host the Manchester City Premier League Champion in Derby – a game full of danger to unites this season.
City suffered a surprise home defeat by Crystal Palace last weekend and they have also lost three of the last four Premier League matches against Solskjaer.
The recent recording of their neighbors will not sit well with the Pep Guardiola manager and there will be points to be proven when the whistle blows at Old Trafford.
United are hammered 5-0 by Liverpool in their last home match – one of the worst results in their history recently and one that breathes media about the future of Solskjaer.
That his team recovered calmly sent Tottenham a week later awesome, even though one of the key wins was the return of a defender’s injury Raphael Varane when Solskjaer began with five behind.
Worried for Solskjaer he would be without Varane for a city visit after he suffered a hamstring injury against Atalanta and would be ruled out for a month.
United will have a lot of defense to do against City and have to do it well.
But that, combined with a quick counter-attack, generally becomes a blueprint for their success to their local rivals because Solskjaer takes the leadership.
Solskjaer has won four and draws one of the eight clashes with Guardiola.
The city, for their part, would be too aware that they were unable to fall too far behind Chelsea and Liverpool in the title race and after a 4-1 victory against Club Brugge in mid-week in a confident mood.
Chelsea lead the standings with three points from Liverpool and five from the third city and will aim to continue the momentum they have built when they are looking for the five consecutive league victory against Burnley on Saturday.
Antonio Conte’s first Premier League match responsible for Tottenham was a trip to face Everton who had lost three consecutive under Rafael Benitez.
Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo who was sacked on Tuesday.
Liverpool closes a weekend with a difficult trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham United’s form that has made their best start to the top flying season in more than 40 years.