Manchester United vs Leicester: Has Ole Gunnar Solskjaer laid defensive foundations for success?

United have joint-best defensive record after five games

The fifth game of what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes will be his first full season in charge of Manchester United was a narrow, uninspiring but potentially significant win over Leicester City. And with an eighth of the Premier League campaign already gone, patterns are beginning to emerge.

Again, a United win coincided with being able to play on the counter-attack. As previously highlighted in these pages, Solskjaer’s side are generally more successful when they do not contest the battle for possession. They have won 10 of the 15 games under Solskjaer in which they have had less than 50% of the ball.

Again, United were awarded a penalty. It was their fourth already, meaning they have won 40% of all top-flight spot-kicks given so far this season. No other Premier League club has managed more than one. Solskjaer puts that down to the quick feet of his attack. Even if that is true, it is hardly the most sustainable tactic.

But on a more encouraging note, again, United defended well. That may sound odd for a side who had only kept one clean sheet before Saturday, especially given that they conceded twice and lost to Crystal Palace in their last outing at Old Trafford. But there were signs that this second clean sheet of the campaign was coming.

United could count themselves unlucky to concede twice from five attempts at goal against Palace, with individual errors at fault for both Jordan Ayew’s opener and Patrick van Aanholt’s stoppage-time winner. Jannik Vestergaard’s equaliser a week later at St Mary’s was one of 10 Southampton shots, but only that and a Che Adams chance truly threatened.

And by comparison, Leicester were almost completely shut down. James Maddison screwed an early chance into David de Gea’s legs while the score was still level but, other than that, the top-six hopefuls were not given a proper sight of goal. Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire, facing his former club for the first time, were particularly impressive.

“I thought they did excellent today,” Solskjaer said in his post-match press conference. “I thought read the game well. I’ve got loads of admiration for [Jamie] Vardy, he’s my type of centre-forward, runs in behind and harasses. You’ve got to be spot on with your decision-making, when to stay up, when to drop off. Both of them proved their worth today.”

After signing Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a combined fee of £125m, it should not surprise us that United appear to have tightened up at the back. But considering the unsatisfactory results of the past few weeks and the gloomy narratives they have encouraged, the defence provides an unexpected cause for optimism.

United’s total of four goals conceded is the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League after five games. They have conceded the fewest expected goals of any top-flight side too, significantly fewer than their immediate rivals for Champions League qualification. Compare that to their numbers under Solskjaer last season, when they gave up better goal-scoring chances than all of the top six bar the permanently-porous Arsenal.

Are United improving at the back? These are still very early days. The trends and patterns which are gradually emerging could easily be undone after another five games and beyond. A visit from Arsenal’s much-hyped attack at the end of this month will be a true test of any nascent defensive credentials. Manchester City and Liverpool’s attacks are unlikely to be intimidated.

None of this solves United’s biggest problem under Solskjaer, either. Breaking down defences and creating quality chances is still an issue. Astana, currently fourth-placed in Kazakhstan’s top flight, may remind them of that on Thursday night. But when looking back on a difficult start to the season, Solskjaer can at least point to early signs that his side is built on stronger foundations.