Manchester United’s starting XI to face Burnley in the EFL Cup on Wednesday will largely depend on how much recovery time their World Cup entrants have.
It is almost certain that Raphael Varane and Lisandro MartÃnez, who played the final of the Qatar tournament on Sunday, will miss out on the tie.
But with the remaining internationals set to rejoin training on Monday, the big question is whether manager Erik ten Hag will deem that preparation sufficient for the Burnley clash.
If he does, then we expect him to present a strong side.
Diogo Dalot is a doubt after apparently picking up a hamstring injury in Portugal’s quarter-final tie against Morocco. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is expected to cover, although Tyrell Malacia could be deployed on the right with Luke Shaw on the left.
Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire would enter for Varane and Lisandro.
Up front, Jadon Sancho doesn’t seem ready to resume, so Rashford and Antony are likely to fill the wing positions, with Antony Martial up front and Bruno Fernandes in the gap.
Casemiro and Christian Eriksen would provide the deep midfield.
This is therefore our expected XI:
However, if those returning to the World Cup rest, the team would look very different. A centre-back partner would need to be found for Victor Lindelof – Axel Tuanzebe has finally returned to training and is the oldest, although both Tyler Fredricson and Rhys Bennett played the role on the mini-tour to Spain last week after Teden Mengi was injured . .
Brandon Williams has also played in Spain and could play at left-back, with the excellent Zidane Iqbal finally starting alongside Scott McTominay in midfield. Alejandro Garnacho, Donny van de Beek and Anthony Elanga would then support Martial up front.
This would be the probable XI in these circumstances:
Of course, a hybrid of the two teams is possible, perhaps with the inclusion of World Cup stars who exited in the group stage, in which case Christian Eriksen and Facundo Pellistri would return.
It could also depend on minutes played at the World Cup, in which case the likes of Fred, Antony and Marcus Rashford might need less rest than, say, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes.
