Erik ten Hag has no new injury headaches after his Manchester United struggled to beat Cypriot minnows Omonia in Cyprus yesterday.
In the pre-match press conference, the manager said he was hopeful about Raphael Varane’s injury, so we think there is a chance the World Cup winner will be ready for Sunday’s trip to Goodison Park for face Everton.
Harry Maguire remains out of the game, and Ten Hag says his recovery would take longer than Varane’s, so Victor Lindelof will join Lisandro Martinez if the Frenchman doesn’t make it.
At full-back, the continued mysterious absence of Aaron Wan-Bissaka means he is Hobson’s choice, with Diogo Dalot being the only recognized right-back in the squad.
Tyrell Malacia was snatched at halftime again against Omonia. Having struggled in two straight games, he will almost certainly be replaced by Luke Shaw, who looked good when he came off the bench.
In midfield, assuming Ten Hag keeps the same ball-gainer and ball-player formation behind an 8/10 hybrid, then Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes are automatic ball-player options, especially with Donny van of Beek injured.
The big question is whether the role of holding midfielder will fall to Casemiro, who performed well in Nicosia, or to Scott McTominay, who had been in the form of his life until that poor performance in the Manchester derby.
We think it’s time Casemiro was given a run down the side, to get the go-ahead.
Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial transformed the match against Omonia, so we expect them both to start on Sunday. Rashford should replace Jadon Sancho, who has been unimpressive in his last two starts and was another player eliminated at halftime yesterday.
Antony will probably get the nod on the right flank.
Martial looks set to replace Cristiano Ronaldo at centre-forward, who had another night to forget in Cyprus.
With David de Gea in goal, here is our predicted XI for Sunday’s kick-off at 7:00pm at Goodison:
