Edinson Cavani shows Man Utd what they’re missing at Valencia

Antonio Conte previews Man Utd trip

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Edinson Cavani has continued his fine form since leaving Manchester United by scoring another goal for new club Valencia. The Uruguay striker departed Old Trafford on a free transfer in the summer – and the Red Devils might regret allowing him to leave so easily. 

Cavani scored in Valencia’s La Liga draw with Sevilla on Tuesday night, taking his tally to three for the season. It is already more strikes than he managed for United last season, with the 35-year-old largely sidelined by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and latterly Ralf Rangnick due to Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival. 

But United may now think they should have handed Cavani more game time last season and kept him ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. Erik ten Hag’s side have struggled for goals and might have benefitted from the veteran’s experience. 

Cavani netted a brace in just 45 minutes during Valencia’s 2-2 draw with Elche at the weekend. He followed that up with a goal against Sevilla. 

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Since his exit, United have struggled for goals. They are the lowest-scoring side in the Premier League’s top half, with Ten Hag struggling to find the perfect formula for his front three. 

Anthony Martial appeared to be the Dutchman’s preferred No. 9 in pre-season but has struggled with injuries. Cristiano Ronaldo’s ability to play in Ten Hag’s system has been strongly scrutinised, although the club icon has found his way back into the starting 11 in recent weeks. 

United required 34 attempts to score against Greek side Omonia in the Europa League last week. But Ten Hag insisted his players can start finding the net on a more frequent basis. 

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He said: “There are players who will score. It’s about the freedom from the player, the intuition, the space they have to take. When they have that feeling then you will see that when they have the talent, when they have the potential, they will score that number of goals.

“I think we have in our squad players who can score that number of goals, but you can also divide it, because we have many goal scorers across the offensive department.”

Despite a strong backing of his attackers, United went on to then draw a blank against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday. A goalless draw leaves the 20-times Premier League champions fifth having scored just 13 times in nine games. 

Ten Hag might now wish the club’s hierarchy had done more to keep Cavani before his arrival. 

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