Latest News

Predicted teams: Manchester United vs RB Leipzig

Manchester United will try to build on their impressive win in Paris last week as they welcome RB Leipzig to the Theatre of Dreams.

Solskjær’s side played out a dull 0-0 draw with Chelsea last week with Edinson Cavani making his debut as a substitute. The Uruguayan could not find the winning goal but he is said to have impressed in training.

Solskjær hinted at rotating a few players out in his pre-match press conference and with United’s now much bigger squad, it’s a luxury that the Norwegian couldn’t afford last season.

“It’s going to be a long season and the depth of our squad is better now,” Solskjær said. “Last game Donny [Van de Beek], Nemanja [Matić] and Paul [Pogba] all started on the bench — they’re all experienced international footballers. It’s not easy.

“We have so many games this season and they’re [United players] all going to play a big part, nobody will be able to play all of them — they work well as a team, is it two, three or four? And who’s on form? Who needs a break?”

The 1-6 defeat to Tottenham before the most recent international break has seen both Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba drop to the bench – neither of the two have started a game since domestic football resumed 10 days ago.

Alex Telles, who impressed on his debut at PSG, was left out of the squad to face Chelsea but is likely to be drafted back in for the Champions League.

Marcus Rashford could be given a rest whilst it is still unlikely that Donny van de Beek or Edinson Cavani will start. Solskjær did however respond to criticism over the playing time of United’s new Dutch midfielder.

“I’ve been part of a successful Manchester United team myself and we had two players for each position. The most successful teams have that, who have been winning trophies,” he said when asked about Van de Beek’s exclusion.

“It’s difficult to leave players out, but I don’t feel that pressure. The pressure is on results. You have to play the next two, three, four games.

“Donny is going to play a big, big part this year. I know at the moment the topic is Donny van de Beek.

“When Donny has played, he’s played really well. It says a lot about our depth of quality in the squad that we don’t have to use him every game. It also says everything about our ambitions.”

Manchester United (3-5-2): Tuanzebe, Lindelöf, Maguire; Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Pogba, Telles; Fernandes, Martial

RB Leipzig (3-4-2-1): Gulácsi; Upamecano, Konate, Orban; Forsberg, Sabitzer, Kampl, Angelino; Nkunku, Olmo; Poulsen

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

To Top