Ruben Amorim has promised to rotate his Manchester United side again for tomorrow’s Premier League clash with Everton at Old Trafford.
However, with Victor Lindelof and Leny Yoro definitely out and Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire unlikely to be fit, there will not be many options to rotate the back three.
While Luke Shaw could start, we think Amorim will stick with Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez, with Andre Onana behind them in goal.
Amorim will also have one eye on a difficult away match against Arsenal coming up on Wednesday, so he will be torn between fielding a strong side to build confidence and be sure of the win versus preparing for what could be a statement game that would really lay down his marker for the rest of the season.
As such, we expect Casemiro and Christian Eriksen to start in central midfield tomorrow. Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes were impressive against Bodo/Glimt and so they could be the pick for Wednesday.
Kobbie Mainoo is another option but he is more likely to be given minutes off the bench.
Captain Bruno is unlikely to be given the luxury of rest altogether though and is expected to feature higher up the pitch as one of the twin 10’s behind the forward.
That forward could be Josh Zirkzee. Rasmus Hojlund did well on Thursday, scoring two and making one, but Amorim said he looked “dead” toward the end and he will presumably want him fresh for Wednesday.
Marcus Rashford led the line against Ipswich but with Alejandro Garnacho also surely in need of a rest, he is more likely to be the other 10.
This leaves the wing backs and a difficult decision for Amorim. Antony and Tyrell Malacia were poor against the Norwegians, so we expect Diogo Dalot and Amad to come back in and they may have to play again in the same roles on Wednesday.
Again, Shaw could be an alternative at LWB but Amorim is being very cautious in building him up. So we think another 30 minutes from the bench is more likely.
Mason Mount looked good on Thursday but he too is unlikely to start as his return to fitness is carefully managed. His time could be split with that of Fernandes if all goes well.
With all that in mind, here is our starting XI for tomorrow’s 1.30pm kick-off:
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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.
