Key Takeaways for Manchester United from their game against Leicester City

Manchester United and Leicester City kicked off the 2018-19 Premier League season at Old Trafford on Friday night. United got off the blocks very quickly and took the lead three minutes into the match through a penalty from an ever-so-confident Paul Pogba. Leicester did very well to try to force an equalizer but were unable to find the end product and were also denied by two superb saves from David De Gea.

United doubled their lead late in the second half through a well-taken effort from Luke Shaw for his first ever senior goal, and held on after a late, late scare, to take all three points.

Here we take a look at key takeaways from a Manchester United perspective:

Matteo Darmian's shaky performance

Darmian has been heavily involved for Manchester United in their pre-season tour, majorly due to the unavailability of Antonio Valencia through injury. He was not too troubled during the pre-season, but, against Leicester, he was stretched far too often. His positioning seemed off and it allowed Leicester to build on their left flank. Demerai Gray and Ben Chilwell ran rings around him all night and he never looked comfortable against them defensively.

It won't be a surprise if he is offloaded before the transfer window shuts for the rest of Europe, with rumoured interest from clubs in Italy. At the same time, United will have to realize that they are lacking in depth in the fullback position with Valencia and Dalot being out injured at the moment.

United's Forward Line

Alexis Sanchez - Manchester United v Leicester City - Premier League

Alexis Sanchez had a very busy pre-season and put in some brilliant performances for United playing up-top through the middle. But, he was unable to produce an effective performance against Leicester last night. Against Leicester, Sanchez started on the left of a front three along with Juan Mata on the right, and Marcus Rashford through the middle.

This combination did not look to be on the same wavelength. Their combination play was poor except on a couple of occasions throughout the match. In the pre-season tour, Mata and Alexis showed promising signs as they combined very well with each other but, against Leicester, they were unable to add Rashford into their equation. Rashford, by the looks of it, did not seem his usual sharp self as he lost the ball and was caught offside too many times.

Without Lukaku, there seems to be no genuine goal threat from the United forward line. Mata, for all his genius on the ball, lacks the pace to go direct. United can maybe look to groom Anthony Martial (if he chooses to stay) and Marcus Rashford to be effective from the right wing, even though it may not be their natural strength. Jesse Lingard is also a candidate to start on the right, even though he prefers to slot in behind the main striker. Alexis Sanchez needs to start replicating his pre-season form in the league soon to warrant his massive wage bill.

He misplaced simple passes too often last night. A trio with Sanchez on the left, Martial, Rashford or Lingard on the right, and Lukaku down the middle has the potential to frighten any defence in the league but, they need to start firing on all cylinders.

Dynamic New Midfielders

United started with an unfamiliar midfield that handed first league starts to new boy Fred and youngster Andreas Pereira. The skipper for the night, Paul Pogba, completed the trio. Fred looked very sharp and seemed to be up for the challenge of the pace and strength in the English league. He was happy to be challenging and jostling for possession against the Leicester midfield time and again.

Things started to heat up when Fred and James Maddison had a mini-duel in the second half, and Fred ended up in the book. But, Fred had put in a solid shift and received approval from the Old Trafford faithful when he came off. Andreas Pereira was also impressive with his performance in his newly adapted No. 6 position. The youngster showed amazing levels of composure for someone who is making his first start in the Premier League. He showed off his skill on the ball and his wide range of passing, often switching from defence to attack very effectively.

The two midfielders, along with Pogba, seemed to be gelling pretty well. Only time will tell whether these two are able to maintain this level of performances and if they do, United can start to capitalize on a very strong midfield contingent also featuring Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay.

Defence

For all the talk in the pre-season regarding the United backline, it was a positive performance from the two centre-backs. Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof started for United in the centre of defence with Darmian as the right-back and Luke Shaw on the left. Matteo Darmian may not have had the best of nights but, the rest of the backline had a good first game of the season.

Lindelof having started training late, after his exploits with Sweden at the World Cup, seemed to have carried his good form from Russia to Manchester. There were a few times that Bailly and Lindelof lacked a bit of communication but, they were lucky that Leicester did not capitalize on those situations.

Jamie Vardy created a bit of trouble for Bailly especially, evidenced with Vardy's equalizer. But, the two would be happy with the shifts they have put in. Set-pieces and one on ones were handled very well by both the central defenders. On the left, Luke Shaw put in a good performance as well. Barring a couple of mistakes, he seemed to cope well with Leicester's efforts down his flank and also got forward frequently to get into good attacking positions. The young Englishman capped off his night with a well-taken first senior goal in front of the Stretford End.

If Bailly and Lindelof keep fit and continue to put in similar performances, they could form a formidable defensive partnership for years to come. Maybe, just maybe, United's failure in the transfer market could be a blessing in disguise. Also, Luke Shaw will be desperate to impress Mourinho in these early matches so as to replace an age defying Ashley Young in that left-back spot. He has done himself no harm with his performance.

Paul Pogba

The recently crowned world champion with France was named United's captain for the opening league fixture. He seemed to have coped with this additional responsibility very well. With a lot of talk surrounding him, his future at the club, and his relationship with Jose Mourinho, the manager might just have given Pogba his vote of confidence by handing him the armband.

Mourinho certainly was impressed that Pogba was willing to start the match even though he only just returned to training last Monday after an extended break in the summer. Pogba's attitude right from the start of the match was very impressive, and when he looks in the mood, he is very difficult to contain. Three minutes in, he confidently stepped up to take a penalty and lofted the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring. Old Trafford rose and applauded the swagger in the midfielder's effort.

There were times during the course of the game in which he was caught on the ball and looked a bit casual but, one could attribute it to the lack of match sharpness. After all, he had just returned to training four days before the match. But, the attitude and commitment that Paul Pogba has shown in the league opener is commendable. Maybe something his compatriot, Anthony Martial, can learn from and apply.

Edited by Arvind Sriram