Erik ten Hag will want to continue his 7 match unbeaten run as Manchester United take on West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Yesterday’s convincing 3-0 win against Sheriff allowed the boss to rest some players for some or all of the game, including Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Antony, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.
Those absences suggest that each of these players will start against the Hammers, although in Sancho’s case, things are a little more complicated.
The England man’s form has taken a nose-dive of late and he was hauled off early against Chelsea after a particularly disappointing performance.
It is therefore possible that he will not come back in and is being given a few games to try to regroup. There are several options if that’s the case. The first is for Cristiano Ronaldo to continue at centre forward and for Marcus Rashford to revert to the left wing.
The second option is to keep Alejandro Garnacho in the left wing slot after his impressive debut yesterday.
Anthony Elanga represents another alternative.
Despite speaking highly of Ronaldo after the game, Ten Hag cannot have been 100% convinced that the 37 year old has returned to his best and so we think Rashford will be recalled to lead the line.
Another issue about Ronaldo’s presence is that it seems to affect Bruno Fernandes, who is visibly less vocal and captain-like in his presence and tends to always try to find his compatriot with the ball rather than shoot or select a more obvious ball.
Sancho perhaps will be given another chance with Garnacho ready to take over if the former Borussia Dortmund star does not deliver the goods in the first half.
With Raphael Varane out for the Reds until after the World Cup, either Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire will be selected to partner Martinez at centre back. Lindelof has not put a foot wrong in that regard so we expect him to continue.
Tyrell Malacia did well yesterday but Luke Shaw’s fine form and greater experience should see him return.
Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are both playing superbly and will almost certainly form the holding midfield, with Antony and Bruno Fernandes also almost certain to start.
With David de Gea in goal and Dalot at right back, here then is our predicted XI for Sunday’s game:
