Three storylines Manchester United fans are talking about ahead of Burnley match | OneFootball

Manchester United take on Burnley this afternoon in a traditional 3pm Saturday afternoon kick off.

The Red Devils aim to extend their grip on sixth place while the Clarets find themselves three points from safety.

United have played Burnley 136 times in history with the Old Trafford side coming out on top 67 times.

The previous fixture took place at Turf Moor in September when Bruno Fernandes was the difference maker with a sensational volley that was enough to win the match 0-1 and take all three points back to Manchester.

Here are some plotlines to follow closely this Saturday afternoon.

Can Mason Mount reignite his season?

Mount’s first season at United will always be synonymous with injury. The Englishman was Erik ten Hag’s first summer signing last year but he has been unable to make any real sort of impact at the club to date due to a series of injury problems.

Not even the England international’s last gasp goal at Brentford proved much as his side conceded three minutes later to draw the match.

In a disappointing campaign, he has only been involved 17 times and played 673 minutes this season.

The 25 year old was declared fit by Erik ten Hag in the pre-match press conference and it was confirmed he will be part of the squad for today’s game.

He will be hoping he can get some much needed game time and help push his side to Europa League qualification and an FA Cup win to finish the season on a high.

Can Rasmus Hojlund get on another goal streak?

The Dane has had the definition of a rollercoaster season. On the one hand he has been on two significant goal droughts but on the other, he is the club’s second top goal scorer with 14 goals in all competitions.

Hojlund had been in great from in 2024, prior to picking up an injury against Luton Town in February. The youngster returned to play Liverpool a month later in the cup but failed to make any sort of mark in the matches since his return.

This changed on Wednesday night when he latched onto a wonderful pass from the talismanic Bruno Fernandes and fired in at the Stretford End.

It must also be stated that, whilst not scoring in normal or extra time, Hojlund converted the deciding spot kick in the FA Cup semi-final versus Coventry City.

The Denmark international returning to the form he showed post-Christmas would do United’s end of season ambitions no harm at all.

Will Ten Hag maintain possession based football?

The appointment of technical director Jason Wilcox has caused quite a stir at the club.

Both Erik ten Hag and the women’s coach, Marc Skinner, have talked about their excitement about working with him.

Wilcox is said to have been given the responsibility of carrying out an audit on the manager’s future and he has also reportedly been given a huge role in deciding the club’s style of play moving forward.

This has seen him reportedly order Ten Hag to adopt a more possession based style and this was seen immediately against Sheffield United where the Red Devils enjoyed 72% of the ball.

It must also be said that the Blades are the worst team in the league by a distance according to points and goals against, so it is logical any Premier League team would control the ball against them, especially at home.

Today’s game against Vincent Kompany’s Burnley will be a better test of how committed Ten Hag is to the new possession based approach.

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