Manchester United will be out to narrow the gap between themselves and the Premier League’s top four when they visit managerless Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Fresh from a 1-0 win against FC Rostov in the Europa League on Thursday – which handed United a quarter-final tie against Anderlecht next month – José Mourinho’s men have the chance to continue building the momentum against 'Boro, who sacked Aitor Karanka earlier this week, before a two-week international break comes into play.
Changes inevitable for United
However, United will be without arguably their three most important players in the shape of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ander Herrera through suspension, while Paul Pogba looks likely to miss out due to a hamstring injury he suffered against Rostov last time out.
That means changes are likely, but Mourinho does at least have the luxury of being able to choose between two excellent goalkeepers at present. Sergio Romero has impressed between the sticks lately and made a particularly eye-catching stop right at the end of the win over Rostov, but he will surely be ousted once again by David de Gea on Sunday.
Antonio Valencia is another of the Red Devils’ most important figures in the side at present, meaning he should resume his role on the right of defence. The recently reliable Marcos Rojo, however, will probably miss out – he looked to be struggling towards the end during the midweek.
Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly will probably make up the central defensive partnership, then, given they’ve played together more often than most this term. Matteo Darmian would then come back into the side at left-back.
Limited options in midfield
With Mourinho’s preferred midfield duo of Pogba and Herrera unavailable, the Portuguese has little to choose from in midfield. He’ll almost certainly start with Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick in the centre, but that will also likely force sporadic squad members such as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Timothy Fosu-Mensah onto the bench.
Both Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata may have completed 90 minutes against Rostov but neither were involved for longer than 37 minutes against Chelsea in Monday’s FA Cup semi-final exit – meaning the creative duo should both be fit enough to be involved from the start again here.
Jesse Lingard hasn’t started in either of those games and given the lack of options to start ahead of him, he should get the nod to play in the final of three positions behind the striker – presumably on the left, but it could really be anywhere across that area.
Marcus Rashford would then be the obvious choice to start as the main striker with Ibrahimovic unavailable, while Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney are seemingly still out with injuries.
Predicted XI: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Darmian; Carrick, Fellaini; Mata, Mkhitaryan, Lingard; Rashford.
