Como vs Man Utd preview: a must-win already

Como vs Man Utd kicks off at 5.45pm UK time on Wednesday at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, live on TNT Sports 2, and it's game three of eight in the league phase. Game three. And it already feels like the season is hanging off it.

Both sides are on three points from two games. Como beat RB Leipzig 4-1 on their Champions League debut and then lost 3-2 at Feyenoord. We beat Sabah 4-0 at Old Trafford and then lost 2-0 in Madrid, behind after a minute.

Team news

Leny Yoro is out. He was sent off at Atlético after a VAR review with us 1-0 down, and he serves a one-match UEFA ban for it, so he misses Como only. That's confirmed in every preview, and he's back for the league on Sunday.

Read more: Leeds vs Man Utd preview: team news and prediction

That's the easy bit. The rest of the list is the usual mess. Benjamin Šeško (shin), Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) and Manuel Ugarte (knee) are all ruled out. Lisandro Martínez came off at half-time at Elland Road, and all Carrick said afterwards was that he "felt his thigh a little bit". Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo and Ayden Heaven (illness) are doubts as well.

Do the maths on that. Yoro's banned, Martínez is a maybe, Heaven's ill and Shaw's a doubt. If all four miss it, Carrick is picking a back four out of whoever's left with Maguire. Both main previews have Noussair Mazraoui coming in for Yoro and Maguire alongside a fit Martínez, which is the best case, and the best case still looks thin.

For Como, Assane Diao is out with a thigh injury, Moise Kean is doubtful or out with a shin problem, and Trevoh Chalobah is a fitness concern. Diao scored in both their Champions League games, so that one hurts them.

Fabregas's Como

Nobody should be calling this the easy away trip. Cesc Fàbregas has been in charge since 2024 and took them to fourth in Serie A last season, which is how they're here. They won 3-1 at Fiorentina on Saturday, with Liberali, Nico Paz and Douvikas all scoring.

They're a possession side in a 4-2-3-1 that builds from the back, the Spanish way, as tactical breakdowns of his Como have shown, and Paz is the one who makes it tick from the number 10. Expect them to press us high early at home. Given how we've started games lately, that's the bit that worries me most.

The key battle: Paz against our midfield

Paz will drift into the space between our midfield and defence, and whoever plays next to Baleba has to stop him turning. If Santos and Baleba both start, as Sports Mole predicts, that's £120m of midfield we've barely used this season asked to win a Champions League game away from home. Bruno can't do it. He doesn't track runners. If we let Paz pick passes the way Leeds were allowed to after the break on Sunday, we lose.

The number that matters

Here's what nobody's saying. Our two wins in nine all season are Ipswich and Sabah. All four of our Champions League goals came against Sabah. Against a side that's actually good enough to be in this competition, we've scored nil. Como have scored six in two games, including two at Feyenoord in a game they lost.

So no, three points each doesn't make this even.

What a defeat would mean

Lose and we're on three points from three, with five games left and every one of them needing a result to get into the top 24, never mind the top eight. Worse, it's another one for the list. Seven without a win in all competitions, after the worst league start since 1986-87 and a draw at Leeds we led at half-time.

Carrick's still there because, as reported, the board are backing him. Fans aren't all with them. On r/reddevils this morning one fan wrote: "I think we will draw vs Como and he will be gone. Enough nonsense." Another put it better: "We've reached the point now where it's just game to game and nothing can be built on something like that."

That second one's right. A draw on Wednesday buys Carrick four days. A defeat makes Sunday against Bournemouth his last chance, and he'd have earned that.

Prediction

Como 2-1 United. They're in form, they've got the better playmaker, and we've got no recognised striker and a back four held together with tape. Prove me wrong, lads. Please.