Manchester United entertain Greek side PAOK tomorrow night in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penultimate game in charge of the side.
United are yet to register a victory in the competition and desperately need to avoid this banana skin and start to climb the table.
With a Premier League home match against Leicester City to follow just three days later, Van Nistelrooy might want to rest some legs.
But with few senior players available, a defence that desperately needs to gel better and given the urgency of the situation, it seems more likely he will field what he believes is a very strong team, hoping to put the game to bed quickly and make early subs.
One change we do think he’ll make is to give Altay Bayindir another run out in goal. He had no hesitation over picking him for the Carabao Cup match against Leicester last week and another home game against a team lying in 30th place in the Europa League table should be the ideal chance to give Andre Onana another night off.
The defence should stay the same, with Diogo Dalot at right back, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez the centre backs and Noussair Mazraoui at left back. Other options are Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans and there have been rumours young Harry Amass might be blooded at left back, but this would be a gamble.
Harry Maguire, Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia remain unavailable.
In midfield, it’s unclear yet whether Christian Eriksen is fit enough to return. If he is, he will probably start, but we have assumed he is not and stuck with Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte. The pair were superb against Leicester last week but poor against Chelsea. There are few other options, with Kobbie Mainoo, Toby Collyer and Dan Gore all injured.
Mason Mount has returned to training but is unlikely to be risked from the start.
Bruno Fernandes is therefore almost certain to start in the number 10 position.
On the wings, the gifted Ivorian Amad could be given a start with either Marcus Rashford or Alejandro Garnacho rested. The fact that Rashford was substituted early against the Blues could mean he will be fresher, meaning it could be the Argentinian who is rested today.
Antony is still injured.
Up front, Rasmus Hojlund will probably begin the game with Josh Zirkzee struggling to find his feet. However, there is an ongoing question mark over Hojlund’s fitness so it would not be a huge surprise if Van Nistelrooy plays him and pushes Fernandes up alongside him in the 4-4-2 he employed to great effect a week ago.
With all that in mind, here is our predicted XI for tomorrow’s 8pm kick off:
Feature image Glyn Kirk 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.
