Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial will return, but Cristiano Ronaldo will drop out when Manchester United and Aston Villa face off on Thursday.
Manchester United will aim to progress to the Carabao Cup fourth round when they welcome Aston Villa to Old Trafford in a third-round clash at Old Trafford on Thursday night. And Erik ten Hag does not have any new squad issues ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Diogo Dalot will serve a suspension in the Premier League game against Fulham this weekend. But that ban does not extend to the Carabao Cup, meaning he will be available. Brandon Williams, Axel Tuanzebe, and Raphael Varane thus remain the only absentees for Manchester United.
Meanwhile, ten Hag is sweating over the fitness of Jadon Sancho and Antony. And the Manchester United manager revealed in his pre-match press conference that he would take a late call on the duo’s availability.
“For every game, we make a proper plan for the line-up and tomorrow is the same. Of course, we have a lot of games to cover and this is a different competition. We plan some changes but want to play a strong team. We have only one aim: we have to win tomorrow, to go to the next round.”
“An injuries update? Yeah, there are some players coming back and also some question marks. As you have seen, Anthony Martial, for the last 20 minutes, was back at Villa, so we are happy with that and we hope he can continue this tomorrow.”
“He will be in the squad, we have to see, but he will have minutes, definitely, if he has recovered. Yesterday, we had a day off so, tonight, we have final training and then we will see. I think he’s capable to play for minutes. On the rest, Jadon Sancho, we have to wait, and Antony, we have to wait, today, on final training.”
Sancho and Antony might return to the matchday squad but will unlikely start against Aston Villa. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga should thus feature as the wide attackers, with Alejandro Garnacho making way for the latter. Martial might be fit enough to start, with Cristiano Ronaldo dropping to the bench.
Bruno Fernandes is available again after serving a one-match suspension. And the Portuguese playmaker will replace Donny van de Beek to reprise the no. 10 role. The cup game will allow Fred and Scott McTominay rare opportunities to start, with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen becoming backup options.
As for the defensive unit, Tyrell Malacia is in line to return to the starting eleven. The Dutch left-back will join Diogo Dalot on the flanks. Lisandro Martinez will get some well-earned rest, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof forming the central defensive partnership. Finally, Martin Dubravka should make his debut for Manchester United, with David de Gea getting a breather.
Predicted Manchester United XI: Dubravka; Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia; Fred, McTominay; Elanga, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
