Manchester United will initiate their Premier League campaign by hosting Leicester City tomorrow in the opening fixture of the season. Jose Mourinho’s team will look to start on a positive note after what has been an underwhelming transfer window for them until now.
Team News:
Several players who took part in the latter stages of the World Cup are likely to be omitted from the squad as most of them resumed training this week itself. As of now, the only injury concerns are that of Antonio Valencia and Nemanja Matic.
Valencia injured his hamstring in the preseason, and Matic underwent a minor surgery that might keep him out for a month. Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard won’t start the match owing to lack of match-fitness currently. Anthony Martial was in line to begin the season in the starting XI, but his unprofessional behaviour where he went AWOL from the preseason tour might change things a little bit.
PREDICTED MANCHESTER UNITED LINEUP VS LEICESTER CITY (4-3-3)
Defence
Custodian David de Gea kept 18 clean sheets in the league last season. He looked sharp in the friendly match against Bayern Munich and would walk into the team straight away.
An injury to Diogo Dalot and Valencia means that United lack options in the fullback positions. Matteo Darmian could fill in as the right back in their absence. Luke Shaw regularly played in the preseason and delivered some good performances, though he has to bring more consistency into his game. Shaw should start as the left back in a four-man backline.
Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly started together for the first time in the friendly against Bayern. They looked comfortable on the ball and confident while defending, something that both of them will have to continue going ahead in the season.
Midfield
With Matic unavailable, Ander Herrera could be picked in the holding midfield position. Herrera might not possess the physicality of Matic, but he is more than capable of slotting in seamlessly.
New signing Fred could be played on the right side of the midfield trio. The Brazilian will be key to Jose’s plans of unleashing Pogba this season and he will like to get off to a confident start.
Andreas Pereira, who returned from his loan spell at Valencia this summer, endured a successful preseason as he constantly delivered convincing performances. He will look forward to increased opportunities this season.
Attack
Marcus Rashford returned early from his break and started the game against Bayern. He will don the coveted number 10 jersey this season onwards, and the match against Leicester would be an opportunity for him to commence the season on a positive note.
Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata will flank Rashford on either side. Sanchez scored two goals in the preseason tour, as he looked enthusiastic and sharp, always looking to get into goal-scoring positions. Mata was in fine form during the preseason too, but he played as a secondary striker in the US and will revert to his previous position on the right-wing.
