Mourinho cannot afford Northampton embarrassment

Manchester United have suddenly hit a break wall when it comes to form. Three consecutive defeats in all competitions mean that critics are already asking questions about boss Jose Mourinho and whether his team from recover from their first blip this season.

The last thing the Red Devils needs at the moment is a trip to a lower league team, but that is exactly what they face on Wednesday night, as Mourinho’s side face Northampton at the Sixfields Stadium in the EPL third round.

This has all the makings of a cup upset. Usually, nine out of ten times a team of United’s ability would easily defeat a League One side, but at the moment confidence is fragile and the Cobblers will be determined to cause an upset in this clash.

In normal circumstances, Mourinho would probably rotate his squad, but the way that confidence is at the moment he may well have to field a strong side just to avoid an embarrassing defeat in the league cup clash.

Things have certainly unravelled for the Portuguese boss in recent weeks after the Red Devils made a perfect start to their Premier League campaign.

The summer signings looked good, as the likes of Eric Bailly and Zlatan Ibrahimovic start the campaign in good form, even if Paul Pogba was slow to find his form, but now there are major question marks over the United players and Mourinho already.

Despite it being very early in the campaign it seems that some critics are already questioning how long Mourinho will last as Manchester United boss. It’s a strange situation for the Red Devils, but a League Cup game could be highly influential in their season.

Manchester United really cannot afford another defeat or the club and team will go into full crisis mode and the pressure will grow on boss Mourinho.