Manchester United are back in Champions League action this evening as we take on group leaders Juventus at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.
The Italian champions would win Group H with a victory this evening whilst we start the day in second place – two points ahead of Valencia.
Romelu Lukaku did not fliy out to northern Italy with the rest of the team yesterday following an injury picked up in training ahead of last weekend’s victory over Bournemouth. Both Antonio Valencia and Marouane Fellaini have travelled as they look to make their returns following injury lay-offs.
Here is the team I think Jose Mourinho will go with this evening:
Goalkeeper: David de Gea
David de Gea can expect another busy evening against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala. The latter scored the only goal at Old Trafford two weeks ago, whilst the Spaniard was forced into four saves.
Defence: Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw
I expect Jose to go with the same back four that started at Bournemouth on Saturday. This game should come too early for Antonio Valencia, so Ashley Young will maintain his place at right-back. Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof has been the centre-back pairing of late, whilst Phil Jones is likely to be on the bench. Luke Shaw has been excellent this season and will be looking to cause problems for Joao Cancelo and the Juventus defence.
Midfield: Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba
I can see Ander Herrera coming into midfield for Fred to do a man-to-man marking job on either Dybala or Ronaldo. The Spaniard is excellent at that. Paul Pogba returns to his former stomping ground with a lot of pressure on his shoulders to perform. How much possession we’ll have remains to be seen – we only had 39% against Juventus last month. Nemanja Matic is the protection in front of the back four.
Attack: Marcus Rashford, Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial
Romelu Lukaku’s absence means Alexis Sanchez should continue his role as the striker in an attacking trio. The Chilean could be flanked by the pace of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. I don’t expect Juan Mata to start in a game where we’re not expecting the majority of the possession, whilst Jesse Lingard is another option as he works hard off the ball.
Here’s the Manchester United team on paper:
