Solskjaer Says Martial Is Key To United’s Improvement

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful Manchester United will see an upturn in form now they have Anthony Martial back fit and firing.

Martial had been out for almost two months with a thigh strain before returning as a substitute in the Premier League draw against Liverpool last week.

The France forward then started and scored the only goal of the game as United defeated Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday.

That was United’s first away win in 12 attempts, with a miserable run of form seeing them 14th heading in the league heading into this weekend and a trip to Norwich City.

But Solskjaer believes Martial can influence an extended change in United’s fortunes, having been brought off on the hour-mark in Serbia to be fresh in time for Sunday.

“We’ve not created as many [chances] as we’d have liked and not scored as many as we’d have liked,” Solskjaer said.

“Now Anthony is back, he got a goal, and I’m sure we’ll see us improve as a team with Anthony in the side. He does give us something different.”

He added: “I hope we’re going to stop [Norwich] because it’s always going to be difficult down at Carrow Road but we’re ready for it now. We’ve got some players back.

“I managed to take Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] and Anthony off after 60 minutes as they were out a long time. Hopefully, it will be a fresh team because we need to be up at our best to have a chance.”