Like everyone expected, Man United suffered a humbling at the hands of Manchester City on Sunday but they have no time to sulk because in midweek, they will have to face Newcastle United.
On Wednesday, Manchester United will welcome Newcastle United in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup and Erik ten Hag’s side will have to give it their all and come up with a confident performance in front of their home crowd.
The 3-0 loss to Man City was United’s fifth league defeat of the season and with the way they are playing, it’s very hard to see them finishing in the top four of the Premier League. This is why they have to prioritize the cup competitions which makes this midweek’s game a very important and must-win fixture.
The Manchester United players were all over the place on Sunday but after the loss, Erik ten Hag has admitted that he won’t be able to implement the same style of football which he used during his Ajax days.
“We will never play the football we played at Ajax here,” the Man United boss has said(h/t Fotmob). “I now have other players, that’s not why I came here. The player material you have determines how you will play. That’s why we play here in a different way than I did at Ajax. That will have to be the case, because I can’t play the same way here.
“That is not in the DNA of Manchester United at all. The football at Ajax is very typical, here we will play much more directly. We also have the players for that, especially at the forefront.”
Everyone is confused as to what style of football that Man United are playing but right now, the manager has to ditch his long-term plans and focus on picking up a commanding win against Newcastle United.
Manchester United’s team news and injuries:
The injury list remains long for the Man United manager with players like Martinez, Luke Shaw and Amad Diallo all ruled out.
Reguilon and Varane were both left out of the Manchester Derby due to tactical reasons but the pair will surely return in midweek. Harry Maguire has been starting the previous few matches so he deserves a rest.
Casemiro and Wan-Bissaka have an outside chance of making it to the matchday squad but we don’t think either of them will be fit to play in midweek.
Erik ten Hag needs to get his midfield trio right because this is one of the major areas of concern for the manager. It looks like ETH just cannot get his midfield combination right despite signing some big names like Amrabat and Mason Mount.
We think the manager is going to rest Bruno Fernandes against Newcastle which means either Mount or Eriksen will get to play in the No 10 role.
Rashford will surely be given a rest allowing Garnacho to come into the side while Antony gets a start as well. Ideally, Anthony Martial should be coming into the side but Hojlund is yet to get into goalscoring form so the Man United manager will need to keep him on the pitch and make sure that the summer signing plays the full 90 minutes.
Man United predicted line up vs Newcastle United:
Predicted Starting XI(4-2-3-1): Onana; Reguilon, Varane, Lindelof, Dalot; Amrabat, Mason Mount; Eriksen, Garnacho, Antony; Hojlund.
