Lisandro MartÃnez returned to training with the Manchester United outfit after his World Cup exploits and should be part of the starting XI for Saturday’s Premier League game against Wolves in Molyneux.
He is likely to resume his excellent partnership with Raphael Varane, who returned from his own odyssey in Qatar earlier in the week and had a fine game against Nottingham Forest.
This would mean that Luke Shaw will likely return to the left-back position, with Tyrell Malacia coming down on the bench.
Previously, boss Erik ten Hag switched Malacia to right-back in Diogo Dalot’s absence rather than rely on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but the England man has played very well against Burnley and Forest and has surely done enough to keep his place in the team if Dalot has not recovered in time.
If Martinez and Varane are back in the boxes, it remains to be seen what this means for Harry Maguire, who returned from the World Cup in a blaze of glory, having been named in the team of the tournament.
The prospect of being United’s reserve so soon after that success may attract the attention of other clubs in need of defensive reinforcements.
Elsewhere, business as usual is expected, with David de Gea in goal, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in midfield, Bruno Fernandes in attacking midfield, Marcus Rashford and Antony on the wings and Anthony Martial up front.
A possible variation on this is Alejandro Garnacho for Antony. The Brazilian had a bad match against Forest and his head doesn’t seem to be in the right place at the moment.
By contract, the young Argentine was fit and focused.
However, Antony offers more balance as Rashford prefers to play on the left flank rather than the right. Also, Ten Hag won’t want to put too much pressure on Garnacho too early.
With all that in mind, here’s our starting XI expected for the 12:30pm kick-off on Saturday:
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