Man United play Aston Villa in pre-season on Saturday and our MEN writers have shared how they think the Reds should line up....CONTINUE READING
United play Aston Villa on Saturday
Manchester United play Aston Villa in their final pre-season friendly in Australia on Saturday.
United have won each of their pre-season matches against Liverpool, Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace this summer and performances have been encouraging. There have been signs of progress and glimmers of Erik ten Hag’s philosophy.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence threatened to overshadow the tour, but it’s understood the players are responding well to Ten Hag’s training sessions and morale in the squad is high, which is important after the worst season at the club for decades.
United take on Villa in Perth on Saturday afternoon and they’ll be hoping to maintain their perfect pre-season record.
Here’s how our MEN writers think United should line up.
Samuel Luckhurst
Ten Hag practically gave the team away in training but it is possible to disagree agreeably with his selection hierarchy. Eric Bailly and Raphael Varane is a more complete partnership than Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.
James Garner needs a meaningful half or so to kick-start his pre-season after missing half of United’s schedule. Scott McTominay has been full of grit but lacked guile across his three halves.
The front four is firmly established and should be unchanged.
Tyrone Marshall
Ten Hag’s strategy of starting his strongest team in every game is working and it makes sense to continue with the same kind of approach. De Gea is a certainty in goal now he’s fit again.
Dalot and Shaw are the best full-backs so should start together and Maguire was impressive on Tuesday, so deserves the chance to build some momentum. If Varane is fit he needs a start again.
Fred has impressed Ten Hag and is playing what he described as the “connector” role. He could be a realistic alternative to Frenkie de Jong. With McTominay carrying a knock this might be a chance for Van de Beek to finally make an impact alongside Fernandes.
The front three picks itself at the moment. It’s a shame we’ve not seen Garnacho on tour, but Sancho, Rashford and Martial are getting better with every game and the partnership between them is developing nicely.
Steven Railston
It’s only pre-season, but Ten Hag revealed on Friday at his press conference that the inspiration behind his strong team selections on tour was to build a foundation for the new campaign. United’s performances have been promising and it seems to be working.
Considering that, just three changes should be made for this match against Villa. Raphael Varane, who has been sidelined with a knock, should come in for Lindelof in the centre of defence, while Shaw should start over Malacia for natural rotation.
Garner should also make his first appearance of pre-season. Although Garner impressed on loan at Nottingham Forest last term, he’s not yet had the chance to show what he can do on tour, given he’s struggled for fitness with a knock.