Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to recall star attacker Marcus Rashford to the starting XI for their home game against Burnley.
Manchester United will be aiming to make it nine victories in nine matches under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, when they face off against Burnley at Old Trafford in matchweek 24 of the Premier League.
The Red Devils picked up their eighth victory since the Norwegian took over when they defeated Arsenal 1-3 in the fourth round of the FA Cup last Friday. And, the Manchester United manager will be hoping that his side are able to continue on their winning ways when the Clarets come visiting on Tuesday night.
Having left out a number of his regulars from the starting XI against the Gunners, Solskjaer is expected to recall them for the game against the bottom-half table outfit. Sergio Romero, who impressed in the win against Arsenal, is expected to make way for first-choice David de Gea between the sticks.
There is some good news for Manchester United on the injury front with defender Chris Smalling close to a return, having recovered from his foot problem. Speaking to MUTV about the Englishman ahead of the game, Solskjaer said, “Chris has trained for a week now, so he’s looking good. It’s about when do we get him into the team.”
Smalling is unlikely to start on Tuesday, but there is likely to be a change at the heart of the Manchester United defence with Phil Jones set to replace Eric Bailly as Victor Lindelof’s partner. Luke Shaw should start at left-back again, while Diogo Dalot is in line to feature at right-back in place of veteran Ashley Young.
Marouane Fellaini remains unavailable for Manchester United for the clash against the Clarets. Academy graduates Andreas Pereira and Scott McTominay are unlikely to break into the starting XI on Tuesday night, along with summer signing Fred, with Solskjaer likely to stick with first-choice trio of Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba.
“I didn’t do Andreas, or Scott or Fred any favours when I put them in against Reading in a game that had nine changes. Next time they come in, there might be one or two changes and then we’ll see what they’re capable of,” speaking of the trio in his press conference.
Jesse Lingard was on the scoresheet against Arsenal on Friday night and is in line to start again on Tuesday. Romelu Lukaku starred for Manchester United in the win against Arsenal, along with Alexis Sanchez. But, both are expected to drop out of the starting lineup.
“So far, it’s been no problem. We’ve got so many games. As soon as it becomes one game a week, it might be a problem. We rotate even during games. When we can put Anthony [Martial] and Rashy [Rashford] on for Alexis and Rom, who did a fantastic job [at Arsenal], it is only going to help us.”
The rotation is likely to continue on Tuesday, with the in-form duo of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial replacing Sanchez and Lukaku in the Manchester United attack.