Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood will both start but Harry Maguire misses out when Manchester United take on Villarreal on Wednesday.
Manchester United will be hoping to win their first silverware under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they lock horns with Villarreal at Stadion Miejski on Wednesday night. And, Solskjaer is set to be handed a hammer blow on the team news front heading into the finale in Gdansk.
While Phil Jones and Anthony Martial had not recovered sufficiently to be a part of the travelling squad, Harry Maguire has made the trip to Gdansk in the hope of proving his fitness ahead of the game. However, the Manchester United captain is only doing light training currently and did not take part in the open training on Tuesday.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Solskjaer did provide an update on Maguire, as well as the aforementioned absentees. “We’ve prepared well. Anthony didn’t make it, Phil didn’t make it, of course, and Harry is just going to jog up and down the sidelines [in training]. I reckon he’ll try to join in a bit. Apart from that, we’re looking quite good.”
Seeing as Maguire has been unable to take part in training, he looks set to miss out, with Eric Bailly keeping hold of his spot at the heart of the Manchester United defence. The former Villarreal man, who shrugged off a minor knock sustained in training, will have Victor Lindelof as his central defensive partner.
The rest of the starting lineup will see wholesale changes after the regulars were all rested in the 2-1 win over Wolves this past weekend. So, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw will be the two full-backs for Manchester United against Villarreal. The key decision will be the choice of goalkeepers, with David de Gea and Dean Henderson vying for the spot; and de Gea is likely to get the nod after his heroics against AS Roma.
Up ahead in midfield, Scott McTominay is expected to be recalled, albeit with a fresh partner in the double pivot. Instead of regular partner Fred, the Scottish international could be stationed along with Paul Pogba, who could be playing a deeper role, with Manchester United set to go all out in attack.
That means that both Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani could be a part of the attacking quartet. Cavani will lead the line for Manchester United against Villarreal, with Greenwood starting on the right flank. Marcus Rashford will be deployed on the left wing, with talisman Bruno Fernandes reprising his usual no. 10 role.
Manchester United Predicted XI: de Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw; Pogba, McTominay; Greenwood, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani
