Manchester United are set to face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League group stage tonight.
The Red Devils are back in the elite European club competition after one season, and they will be aiming for a much better campaign than in 2021/22 where they were ousted at the round of 16 stage by Atletico Madrid.
Manager Erik ten Hag has plenty of injured and unavailable players to cope with, but he will be expecting a strong response from the depleted squad on the back of successive Premier League losses to Brighton and Arsenal.
United will be eyeing their first-ever victory on the road to Bayern tonight.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Line-up:
Andre Onana has played every minute of the club’s Premier League campaign, keeping one clean sheet. The Cameroon international is an undisputed starter and is expected to continue in goal against the German champions.
Raphael Varane trained with his teammates on Tuesday, but he has not travelled with the team. Aside from the Frenchman, United are without Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia with injuries.
Maguire’s concern was confirmed by Ten Hag yesterday. It is quite clear that the manager will start with Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez and Sergio Reguilon as his back four with Jonny Evans on the bench.
Ten Hag went with a diamond midfield formation against Brighton and it failed to work out, barring the early minutes. In our view, the manager should revert to his preferred 4-2-3-1 set-up which could become 4-3-3 when out of possession.
Casemiro and Christian Eriksen should start in the centre of the park with Bruno Fernandes in the number 10 role. Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat are unfit for the game.
Fernandes will have more defensive duties with Scott McTominay likely to drop to the bench for another attacker tonight. The 26-year-old had a poor outing versus Brighton.
Rasmus Hojlund had a lively full debut against Brighton and was unlucky to not score his maiden goal. The Dane will obviously lead the line. As we stated yesterday, Alejandro Garnacho could start on the left wing with Marcus Rashford moving to the right.
The duo could interchange positions, but need to provide defensive support for the full-backs. Bayern have a world-class striker in Harry Kane, but they are also dangerous from out wide with Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sane in the squad.
How Man Utd could line-up vs Bayern Munich
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
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