Goals aplenty but United must watch their back

Reading 3 Man Utd 4

Some have tried living by that dictum and failed, most memorably Ossie Ardiles with his ‘Famous Five’ forward line that took Tottenham to the brink of relegation in the 1990s.

By contrast, most title-winning teams tend to build their success on a sound defensive platform. Remember 1-0 to the Arsenal, or Jose Mourinho’s lean, mean defensive machine? Manchester United have always been somewhere in between, with Alex Ferguson sending out teams to score while not giving much away at the back.