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Manchester United’s tour of the USA begins tomorrow with a challenging duel with Arsenal in New Jersey.
With a 31-man squad and, potentially, the addition of new signing Andre Onana, manager Erik ten Hag has lots of options when it comes to picking a starting XI.
With a couple of tweaks, we believe he will start with a side pretty similar to the one he expects to kick off his Premier League campaign with against Wolves on August 14th.
If Onana is able to get there in time, there seems to be little reason why he would not be thrown right in at the deep end, as the important thing now is to get used to playing with his new back four.
Although he will not have trained at United, this is arguably less important for a goalkeeper than for an outfield player.
André Onana holding Manchester Utd shirt for the first time — with his agent Albert Botines and Jordi Pascual from his camp. 🔴🇨🇲 #MUFC
He’s gonna wear number 2️⃣4️⃣. pic.twitter.com/2vuuURfe2G
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 20, 2023
Unless there are new signings in the next couple of weeks, United’s starting back four for the new season is likely to be Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and either Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Diogo Dalot.
Wan-Bissaka has already got two friendlies under his belt so Ten Hag could opt for Dalot tomorrow in order for him to build match fitness.
Likewise, in midfield, the preferred double pivot this season is expected to be Casemiro and new signing, Mason Mount, but Mount has already had two friendly outings.
On this occasion, therefore, the boss could give Christian Eriksen the role of deep-lying playmaker in the first half.
Bruno Fernandes, United’s newly appointed captain, should play in the number 10 role.
Up front, in the absence of any new signings we think Antony, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho could be the chosen starting trio.
Anthony Martial is taking for ever to recover from a hamstring injury and Jadon Sancho’s form in the previous two friendlies was poor. Ten Hag would be forgiven for losing patience with both.
With wholesale changes expected at half time, however, they are both likely to see some action in the second half, along with the likes of Dean Henderson, Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Alvaro Fernandez, Mount, Scott McTominay, Kobbie Mainoo and Amad.
Here then is our predicted XI for the game, which kicks off at 10pm UK time:
