FC Twente striker Sam Lammers may be rubbing his hands at the prospect of coming up against Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt.
That’s according to analysts Leon ten Voorde and Etienne Verhoeff, via Twente Insite, who believe the upcoming clash in the Europa League could be a chastening one for the Manchester United summer signing.
De Ligt moved to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window, reuniting with Erik ten Hag in the hope of reviving his career after a difficult few years at Juventus then Bayern.
He’s not enjoyed the flying start he would have hoped for and took another stumble during the international break, with a huge mistake in the Netherlands’ 2-2 draw with Germany.
That mistake saw him hauled off at half time in favour of Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke and there’s been major fallout since, with the Manchester United man facing criticism from all corners.
He’ll now be hoping to get back on track with Manchester United, whose busy schedule sees them playing in the Premier League, EFL Cup and Europa League in the coming weeks.
They’re set to take on Twente at home in the latter in 12 days’ time and Ten Voorde and Verhoeff believe that could be another rough evening for him.
“A defender who has of course had a pretty difficult time behind him and was looking for some confirmation with the Dutch national team and if it ends like this… the magnifying glass was of course on him after the past two international matches,” Ten Voorde said.
“And you are substituted at half-time against Germany, the country where you played for Bayern Munich until recently. The German press was also not kind to De Ligt.”
“Manchester United wants to have a strong defender, but now a broken man is coming in. Joseph Oosting must have told Lammers to let De Ligt play the deep passes,” said Verhoeff.
“De Ligt is a free man, let him play those balls. Look for him, he is vulnerable,” added Ten Voorde.
“Balls behind him, in his back, and it’s 0-1 at Old Trafford,” concluded Verhoeff.
