Man Utd vs Roma preview: Carrick can't afford a tenth

"Yes." That was Michael Carrick's whole answer when TNT Sports asked him after the Chelsea defeat whether he'd be in the dugout for Man Utd vs Roma, as Football Italia reported. One word, nine games without a win, and a club that still hasn't said anything at all.

The board has already decided what this game is for

Nobody at the club has called Tuesday a must-win. They don't need to. Reports since Saturday, 101 Great Goals among them, say Carrick keeps the job for Roma and Villa and his position gets reviewed in the international break. That's reported, not confirmed. If it's right, Roma and Villa are a two-game trial, and everyone in the building knows it.

I've said before that leaving a manager hanging is the worst option going, and this is the proof. Carrick picks a side for Tuesday knowing a defeat probably finishes him, and a manager in that spot picks safe. Safe is how we lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth. Wilcox and Berrada had six days after that to make a call and chose not to. That's on them.

Read more: Chelsea vs Man Utd preview: Carrick needs Bruno back

Fans on r/reddevils can see where it ends up. One put it bluntly: "Basically, one win against Roma or Villa and they'll cling on to that as a reason to keep him." Another said what a lot of people are thinking and won't say out loud: "Hoping we lose games is antithetical to everything being a fan means but that's where this pushes a large portion of our fanbase." I'm not there. I want us to win. But I get it.

On team news, Shaw, Dorgu and Šeško are out by every account, and Šeško won't be back until 2027. Martínez's red at Chelsea was a league ban, so Sports Mole expects him to start next to Maguire. After what he did on Saturday, I'd start Heaven. I doubt Carrick will.

Lose and the top 24 needs a miracle in January

Three points from three. A 4-0 over Sabah, then two-nil at Atlético and 4-1 at Como, both confirmed by UEFA. Last season Opta's projections put a top-24 finish as near enough certain on 10 points, with nine enough most of the time, and one simulation of this season has 24th landing around nine.

So here's the sum. After Roma we've got Sporting away, Leipzig at home, Bayern at home and Villarreal away. Look at the current table and only one of those, Leipzig, sits below us. Beat Roma and we're on six, needing roughly a win and a draw from four. Lose and we're still on three, needing two wins at least, and with Bayern and a trip to Villarreal saved for the last two in January. With this lot? I wouldn't fancy it.

Malen is the problem, and Gasperini knows we're there for the taking

Roma are flying. They won 5-2 at Udinese on Saturday, which makes it 28 league goals in ten games, a club record over that stretch. That leaves them on 24 points, one behind Inter and Lazio at the top of Serie A. Gasperini even talked about us mid-celebration: "we have to play in Manchester in three days time."

Donyell Malen is the man to stop. He's got eight Serie A goals and three in the last two Champions League games, and he's expected to play up front on his own. Quick, direct, likes running off the last defender's shoulder. We've conceded first in game after game this season, so you can see how this goes.

Their weakness is real, though. They let in two against Cagliari last week and two more at Udinese, after Gasperini had told them at half-time not to concede, and Svilar, their first-choice keeper, is out. Get at them and they'll give you chances.

Roma's worst night at Old Trafford finished 7-1 in April 2007, and Carrick scored two of them. Nobody's expecting a repeat. Just a team that scores first would do.

My call: Man Utd 1-2 Roma. We score, because they always let one in, but Malen wins it, and Carrick goes into the Villa game needing a result to survive. Check how my past calls went before you tell me I'm wrong.