Ruud van Nistelrooy’s last match in charge of Manchester United will be tomorrow’s Premier League clash with Leicester City at Old Trafford.
With a squad that is getting fuller as players return from injury, there are some key decisions that the Dutchman will have to make when selecting his starting XI for the game.
Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are all now in training although it is unlikely that any will feature just yet.
Antony and Christian Eriksen are definitely back in contention.
Amad is a doubt after limping off against PAOK on Thursday, although Van Nistelrooy said he was hopeful the Ivorian would recover in time for tomorrow’s game.
That could be one of the big decisions awaiting the 48 year old – whether to start him after his man of the match, two goal performance against the Greek side.
We think he will do so. This then begs the question as to who will occupy the left flank. Alejandro Garnacho is in the box seat but looked tired and unfocused against PAOK, so perhaps Marcus Rashford will be recalled to have a run against a problem position for Steve Cooper, which would be occupied by either James Justin or Ricardo Pereira. Garnacho certainly looks like he needs a rest.
Rasmus Hojlund is hardly setting the world on fire up front at the moment but with Josh Zirkzee struggling even more, he will probably keep his place. Bruno Fernandes will be in the number 10 role.
Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro have been Van Nistelrooy’s go-to central midfield pairing so far and have put in two decent performances – against Leicester in the Carabao Cup and against PAOK – but struggled against Chelsea.
Kobbie Mainoo is still injured but with Eriksen back, it is likely he could be brought in for one of the more defensive-minded stars, probably Ugarte. This should give United more creativity from deep with the Foxes likely to park the bus and go for a point.
In defence, Diogo Dalot has been looking shaky at left back and Noussair Mazraoui accomplished on the right. They could simply be reversed, or the boss could start this game how he finished Thursday’s, with Lisandro Martinez at left back, Mazraoui on the right and either Jonny Evans or Victor Lindelof coming in at centre back alongside Matthijs de Ligt.
Harry Maguire is still out injured.
With Andre Onana sure to start in goal, here is our predicted line-up for tomorrow’s 2pm kick-off:
Featured image Naomi Baker 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.
