Manchester United host Derby County in the third round of this season’s FA Cup at Old Trafford this evening.
The Championship side picked up eight points over a favourable Christmas fixture list which includes a 0-0 draw at lowly Hull City and being held 1-1 at home by out-of-form Sheffield United.
We last played Derby in the fourth round of the FA Cup in 2016 where we were 3-1 winners at Pride Park thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney, Daley Blind and Juan Mata.
The two teams for this evening’s game are confirmed as:
Manchester United
Sergio Romero; Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw; Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba; Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Henrikh Mkhitaryan; Marcus Rashford
Substitutes: Joel Pereira, Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Marouane Fellaini, Scott McTominay, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku
Chris Smalling has recovered from his injury picked up against West Brom before Christmas to take his place in the starting lineup alongside Daley Blind in central defence. Luke Shaw is making his fifth consecutive start over the busy Christmas and New Year fixture list.
Jesse Lingard is back in at the number 10 role as Paul Pogba drops back in front of the back four alongside Ander Herrera with Nemanja Matic being given a rest. Scott McTominay is only named among the substitutes.
Marcus Rashford starts up front tonight as Anthony Martial drops to the bench. Romelu Lukaku has recovered from his head injury to take his place among the substitutes. Marouane Fellaini is also back for the first time since late November.
Jose Mourinho confirmed on Thursday that Sergio Romero would start.
Derby County
Scott Carson; Andre Wisdom, Alex Pearce, Richard Keogh, Marcus Olsson; Tom Huddlestone, George Thorne; Andreas Weimann, Tom Lawrence, Johnny Russell; Sam Winnall
Substitutes: Jonathan Mitchell, Chris Baird, Jamie Hanson, Mason Bennett, Matej Vydra, Chris Martin, David Nugent
Former-Manchester United youngster Tom Lawrence is named in the starting lineup as part of a front four. We think Sam Winnall will lead the line for Gary Rowett’s side, though Andreas Weimann has played in this position before.
George Thorne, who scored Derby’s only goal when we met them in the FA Cup two years ago, starts alongside Tom Huddlestone in front of the back four. That back four has had three changes from their regular Championship side with captain Richard Keogh the only regular keeping his place.
Derby have a lot of attacking talent by their standards on the bench – top scorer Matej Vydra, regular starting striker David Nugent, and prolific Championship goalscorer Chris Martin.
