Erik ten Hag has to field his strongest team for the Carabao Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest, although it is becoming less clear who belongs to that better team.
At the time of writing, it is unclear if Diogo Dalot or Anthony Martial will have recovered in time to appear. Of the two, Dalot is more likely to be called up to the starting lineup as his understudy, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, did not play well against Arsenal on Sunday. By contrast, Martial’s deputy Wout Weghorst put in a very competent performance.
Another reason is that United need to take the lead against Forest and Dalot is much more capable of going forward than Wan-Bissaka.
However, as he has yet to return to training, it seems unlikely that he will be fit enough to start.
The rest of the defense is likely to remain unchanged as well, despite consigning three goals to the Gunners.
Raphael Varane and Lisandro MartÃnez barely made a false step, but they had no protection in midfield in the absence of Casemiro due to suspension.
He will certainly be remembered alongside Christian Eriksen, with Scott McTominay falling back to the bench.
If Martial is fit, we expect him to start on the bench, but it remains to be seen if Weghorst is again looked after by Antony after another lackluster performance at the Emirates.
One option is to switch Marcus Rashford to the right wing and start Alejandro Garnacho on the left, which seems the most likely.
Another possibility is that Fred starts in midfield and Bruno Fernandes is asked to take another turn on the right wing.
Jadon Sancho is an outside possibility, having rejoined full-team training, but not in match-fit form, he, too, is more likely to start his comeback from the bench.
With all that in mind, here’s our predicted XI for the first leg of the semi-final:
