Ruben Amorim will pick his first Manchester United line-up on Sunday with the world waiting and watching to see how his revolution is going to start.
He has stated definitively that he intends to stick with his favoured three at the back system. Whilst there had been speculation that United’s squad might lend itself to a different system, early reports from training had suggested that indeed, back threes are being practiced and he verified this at today’s press conference.
The immediate issue Amorim has in this regard is the lack of personnel at his disposal.
Leny Yoro is back in training and he was pulled from an U21s game in the week, leading some to speculate he will be thrown straight in to the starting line-up despite not kicking a ball in anger since United’s pre-season tour match against Arsenal.
However, we think he is much more likely to start from the bench.
Lisandro Martinez was also sent home from international duty with a back injury but it is understood it is not too serious and he has a good chance of playing tomorrow.
Harry Maguire is still out and Victor Lindelof picked up an injury on international duty, so the back three is likely to be Jonny Evans, Matthijs de Ligt and Martinez. If the latter can’t make it, then Casemiro might be asked to drop back from central midfield.
Luke Shaw is an outside option as he is also now in full training, but again we feel he’s unlikely to start having not played all season. He may get minutes from the bench at either left wing back or centre back.
Likewise Tyrell Malacia is on the comeback trail but unlikely to start.
The wing backs will most likely be Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui.
Another player who is back in training is Kobbie Mainoo. Again, he may be thrown straight in but minutes off the bench seem more likely. The midfield pair – assuming a 3-4-3 – could be Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro, with Christian Eriksen another option. Amorim is known to favour high intensity, strong tempo teams which may mitigate against the Dane despite his excellent start to the season.
Ugarte is a former Amorim player which should stand him in good stead, although he could be considered at risk of tiredness having played two matches for Uruguay in the past week.
United are at full strength in the forward areas so Amorim will have to choose three players from Marcus Rashford, Amad, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount and Josh Zirkzee.
We have a hunch that Amorim may try Rashford as the front man, with Bruno Fernandes and either Amad or Garnacho in the supporting forward roles.
If he goes more attacking, he could even push Fernandes (or Mount) back into one of the CM roles, allowing for an extra attacker. Mount could also, theoretically, be deployed as a wing back. The former Chelsea man has reportedly been excelling in training and so may even get a start.
With Andre Onana in goal, here then is our predicted line-up for Sunday’s 4.30pm kick-off at Portman Road:
Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images
Red Billy
Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.
