Scott McTominay and Edinson Cavani are set to return when Manchester United play West Bromwich Albion on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester United take on West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, hoping to keep up with league leaders Manchester City. The Red Devils are once again facing a fixture pile-up, having played West Ham in the FA Cup in midweek and are also due to face Real Sociedad in Turin just four days after this weekend’s encounter.
During his pre-match press conference, Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer has already suggested that changes could be in order when Manchester United travel to Turin on Thursday.
“Of course, there’ll be rotation. The squad will change. We have to freshen things up when we play Thursday and then Sunday after. It’s impossible in today’s circumstances to play the same XI every single game. You could do it, probably, if it was only once a week.”, said the Norwegian, which suggests he could recall a host of his first-team players into the starting eleven this weekend.
Starting in defence, David de Gea should return in goal, at the expense of Dean Henderson while Luke Shaw should replace Alex Telles at left-back, in what can be referred to as traditional rotations. Things are set to remain the same elsewhere in the backline, with Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire forming the central defensive partnership in the absence of Eric Bailly while Aaron Wan-Bissaka continues at right-back.
”Paul [Pogba] is still out. Eric has been training, so that’s a boost to us.”, said Solskjaer when asked about his team’s injuries heading into this game. Pogba’s continued absence should ease things for the Man United boss, though, as far as team selection is concerned, as he can now conveniently deploy Scott McTominay and Fred in the double-pivot of a traditional 4-2-3-1.
Further changes in the lineup should see Donny van de Beek making way for the mercurial Bruno Fernandes in the number ten position. With Pogba missing once again, the onus will solely be on the Portuguese international to provide the creativity in the final third, alongside the two wide attackers in Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood.
The three will look to provide the supply for Edinson Cavani in the attack, with the Uruguayan international likely to get the nod ahead of Anthony Martial because of his physical attributes and ability to sniff goalscoring opportunities that could be crucial against a deep defensive line this weekend.
Predicted Manchester United Lineup (4-2-3-1): de Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani