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Erik ten Hag has a big decision to make in selecting his team for Sunday’s FA Cup semi final against Brighton at Wembley.
His Manchester United side were woeful last night as they crashed out of the Europa League, conceding three goals from three errors against Sevilla.
David de Gea was partly responsible for all three but with Tom Heaton still injured, it seems unlikely he will be dropped for Jack Butland, who has hardly played any senior football for a considerable time.
Harry Maguire was also culpable for the first goal of the night, having also scored an own goal in the first leg. His confidence appears to have gone completely but the manager’s decision has already been made for him in this case as the skipper is suspended for Sunday’s game.
This leaves few options in defence in the absence of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, who are both out injured.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was hauled off at half time last night and could face the axe. While there were no glaring errors from him, his work rate was poor.
We are therefore predicting that Diogo Dalot will be restored to right back, Tyrell Malacia to left back, with Luke Shaw playing left centre back and Victor Lindelof right centre back.
Christian Eriksen did not have a great game against Sevilla either and given Bruno Fernandes’ good form as deep-lying playmaker when the Dane was out injured, Ten Hag could decide to shuffle the pack again.
The ongoing poor form of Jadon Sancho is also a factor in this respect, as is Anthony Martial’s fitness.
The Frenchman limped off again last night having been trodden on by Maguire and we have come to expect that will mean the worst for the coming games.
Wout Weghorst could come in, but we think Ten Hag could get creative, pushing Eriksen out to the left wing, Fernandes alongside Casemiro in the pivot and moving Marcus Rashford to play up top.
Eriksen, Fernandes and Rashford could interchange, allowing the England man to create space by pulling out wide for the midfielders to make runs into the box.
In this scenario, Marcel Sabitzer would play in the number 10 position and Antony, one of the few bright sparks in Spain, will keep his place on the right wing.
With all that in mind, here is our predicted XI for Sunday’s game:
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