Manchester United travel to the Etihad Stadium for their Premier League derby against Manchester City today.
The Red Devils returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday.
The performance was not up to the mark, but they prevailed with a superb comeback win.
Rasmus Hojlund was the star of the show, scoring two goals after replacing Joshua Zirkzee off the bench.
The Dane should be an assured starter today, and there will likely be three more changes to the starting XI.
United are presently eight points behind the final Champions League spot occupied by City.
With City’s woeful run of one win in ten games, United need to make a huge statement with a win at the Etihad.
Formation: 3-4-2-1
Andre Onana has been an undisputed starter in goal for the Red Devils in the Premier League.
He has made high-profile errors in the last two games but continues to receive the backing from manager Ruben Amorim. The Cameroonian is expected to keep his place.
Defender Leny Yoro should be reinstated into the XI after a breather in midweek. He will partner Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez in central defence.
Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia featured as the wing-backs against Plzen. Dalot struggled to provide any attacking threat, and the same can be said about Malacia.
Both are likely to drop to the bench. Amad Diallo, who played in the number 10 role in midweek, should slot in as the right wing-back where he has been most effective under Amorim.
Mazraoui has been a regular starter on the right side of the back three, but he could play as the left wing-back to provide a good balance between attack and defence for United.
Casemiro should keep his place in midfield after a superb showing in Czechia. The Brazilian won 10 out of 10 ground duels, and he also had a 90 percent passing accuracy.
Manuel Ugarte could accompany him in the centre of the park with Bruno Fernandes playing higher up.
Fernandes is most effective as an attacking midfielder and should play there against City, who look vulnerable when dealing with counter-attacking situations.
Marcus Rashford should drop to the bench. Alejandro Garnacho is likely to accompany Fernandes as an inverted forward, with Hojlund leading the line.
It should be an easy decision to drop Zirkzee after his dreadful performance on Thursday.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com.
Article written by Sri Aswin .
