Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will need to ring the changes for Thursday’s match against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup after being humbled by the Midlands side on Sunday.
The strategy of using Cristiano Ronaldo as a target man was an abject failure at Villa Park as the Portuguese was completely dominated by Villa’s Tyrone Mings.
With Anthony Martial having had some minutes in that game, we expect that he will be recalled to the centre forward position, with the 37 year old dropping to the bench.
The wing positions will depend on the fitness of Antony, who has missed three games due to a minor injury, and Jadon Sancho, who has been ill.
Sancho is perhaps the most likely of the two to have recovered on time, so we predict Marcus Rashford will return to the left wing and Sancho will play on the right, with Alejandro Garnacho dropping to the bench.
Garnacho has been excellent but due to his age it is asking a lot to expect him to play another 90 minutes.
If Antony is fit, he would replace Sancho on the right in our lineup.
In defence, Luke Shaw struggled against Villa and was replaced by Tyrell Malacia despite the fact that it was his shot that was deflected for United’s only goal. The drop-off in Shaw’s performance could mean that Malacia gets the start on Thursday.
On the other flank, Diogo Dalot will almost certainly continue as he is suspended for Sunday’s Premier League match with Fulham.
Despite shipping three goals, we expect Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof will continue at centre back although Harry Maguire will be hoping for another chance.
Christian Eriksen and Casemiro should continue as the first choice defensive midfield, with Bruno Fernandes returning ahead of them after serving a one-match suspension. Donny van de Beek will drop to the bench.
David de Gea will undoubtedly be in goal.
With all that in mind, here is our predicted XI for the game:
