Pundit demands Man Utd are docked six points over rotation

Joe Williams
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Man Utd
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Man Utd

Man Utd should be docked six points after making ten changes against Leicester City on Tuesday night, according to Trevor Sinclair.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fielded a weakened side against top-four hopefuls Leicester on Tuesday with the rearranged clash with rivals Liverpool coming on Thursday.

A second-half goal from Caglar Soyuncu gave the Foxes all three points in a 2-1 win after Mason Greenwood had cancelled out Luke Thomas’ opener for Brendan Rodgers’ side.


MAILBOX: Sinclair ‘is absolutely right’ that Man Utd should be punished


The victory means that Leicester are now eight points ahead of fifth-placed West Ham and it now looks unlikely that they will throw away their chance of qualifiying for the Champions League.

And Sinclair thinks the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham – who are competing for the top four – will be annoyed about the changes Man Utd made and the former Premier League player wants to see the Old Trafford club docked points.

“Without being disrespectful to the players that played tonight, they made ten changes, this is their ‘B’ team,” Sinclair told talkSPORT.

“I think that’s disrespectful and it takes away from the top four race.”

Speaking about the Man Utd fan protests that got the match against Liverpool postponed, Sinclair added: “Why didn’t the police and the club make amendments and make sure they safeguard the stadium? They didn’t do that.

“The teams that are going to suffer from Man United’s lack of due diligence, the ones who could miss out on the top four, are Chelsea possibly, Liverpool, West Ham and Tottenham.

“I think there needs to be a punishment for Man United. Three points isn’t enough because that doesn’t affect anything.

“I honestly feel the way they put out this team, the way they didn’t safeguard their stadium, I think a six-point deduction should be given to Manchester United.”

Speaking before the fixture against Leicester, Man Utd boss Solskjaer explained why he wouldn’t be able to play his full team, he said: “Well, I wish I could have said ‘let’s go full out in all the games’ but it’s impossible.

“That’s the hard bit for me knowing that if I do play these 11 again on Tuesday and Thursday, it’s impossible. I run too much of a risk of injuring them.

“So, talking about integrity in the league and stuff, don’t blame me when I have to make changes because I have to. It’s not safe for them to play all four so I have got to prioritise.

“Changes? I don’t know. We’ll sit down with the sports scientists (on Sunday).

“We can have a theoretical team now but we’ll have to see how they react when they come in (Monday), when they come in Tuesday morning and pick a team Tuesday afternoon.”