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Manchester United start the season with some injury issues and pending transfers that might affect Erik ten Hag’s team selection for Monday’s Premier League opener against Wolves at Old Trafford.
Anthony Martial is back in training but is unlikely to feature, unless he gets some minutes from the bench, as he has not taken part at all in pre-season.
Fred also missed pre-season and looks set to complete a transfer to Turkish side Fenerbahçe this weekend.
Alex Telles has already left the club.
Dean Henderson, Tom Heaton, Tyrell Malacia, Kobbie Mainoo and Amad are all injured, as is new signing Rasmus Hojlund.
With Andre Onana set to make his competitive debut for the Red Devils, there is a question as to who will be his backup keeper. With Henderson and Heaton injured, Nathan Bishop having left the club and Matej Kovar close to doing the same, it might fall to 21 year old Ondrej Mastny to fill the gap, or fellow Czech Radek Vitek.
17-year-old prodigy Elyh Harrison, who joined the pre-season squad, is also an option.
In defence for United, the big question is who will start at right back. Neither Aaron Wan-Bissaka nor Diogo Dalot have impressed in pre-season and while Wan-Bissaka ended 2022/23 in the starting berth, Dalot remains a much more natural Ten Hag type player and could get the nod.
Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw are likely to fill the other slots.
Harry Maguire is no longer captain of the club and is close to agreeing a deal with West Ham, so he is unlikely to feature.
In midfield, we expect Casemiro to hold with Mason Mount – also making his competitive debut – the deep lying playmaker and Bruno Fernandes ahead of them. Christian Eriksen will probably start on the bench alongside Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek, who himself is subject of speculation of a move away to Real Sociedad.
Jadon Sancho has impressed in the false nine role in pre-season but we suspect he too will be on the bench, with Marcus Rashford leading the line.
Alejandro Garnacho should start on the left wing, with Antony wide right.
With Mount adding extra pace from midfield and Rashford up top, the side is bursting with pace and should be more than a handful for Wolves in what promises to be a lightning fast 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
With all that in mind, here is our predicted XI for the game:
