Manchester United have had a good pre-season so far, winning all four of their matches, and have two more matches to go before their first Premier League game of the 2019-20 season against Chelsea on August 11. The Red Devils travel to Norway to play their fifth match of pre-season against manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s hometown club, Kristiansund. We could see a packed stadium at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion as the Premier League side have a strong fan following there, while the presence of a Norwegian manager is an added incentive.
Predicted Manchester United Lineup vs Kristiansund (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
David de Gea could continue in goal having started the last two games against Tottenham and AC Milan.
Defence
Eric Bailly is unlikely to feature after walking out of the last game in crutches. This leaves Solskjaer with five central defenders to choose from – Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Axel Tuanzebe and Victor Lindelof. Solskjaer’s first choice at the back seems to be Lindelof, and he could be paired with Tuanzebe, who seems to have a future at Old Trafford and has impressed his manager so far.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw will start at right-back and left-back, respectively.
Midfield
Scott McTominay had a very good game against Tottenham last time around, and could be one of the players to play alongside Paul Pogba when the Premier League season kicks off. Against Kristiansund, Solskjaer may give an opportunity to Fred, who has not had a lot of game time in pre-season, and he could start in midfield alongside Pogba.
Andreas Pereira started in the attacking midfield role against Spurs, and had a solid first-half; we could see the Red Devils manager rotate for that position once again, giving Juan Mata the opportunity to play the creative role in midfield.
Attack
Anthony Martial was impressive for United against Spurs, playing in the centre-forward position for the Red Devils. As Solskjaer has rotated that position throughout pre-season, Marcus Rashford could return to the team, with Daniel James and Jesse Lingard or Mason Greenwood, playing either side of him, while Angel Gomes could get an opportunity after scoring last time against Spurs.
