Manchester United are ready to take on Aston Villa in what could be an intriguing FA Cup clash at Old Trafford this evening.
Steven Gerrard will be facing one of his biggest tests as Villa boss so far, but it’s also one his side could relish as Man Utd have not exactly been firing on all cylinders recently.
Given that this is a cup game, however, it perhaps affords new interim manager Ralf Rangnick to experiment a bit more, which could even give him the chance to use players who’d be a better fit for his 4-2-2-2 system.
Of course, United mustn’t take Villa lightly, so we’ll probably see a fair few of the more experienced players as well, but expect the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes to get a rest, while Dean Henderson could get the nod over David de Gea in goal.
There’ll surely be a fair few Red Devils fans hoping to see Donny van de Beek after a long wait, and we expect he and Jesse Lingard could both be idea in those two attacking midfield roles behind the two strikers…
It can be hard to make accurate predictions about team news with cup matches like this, as some managers treat the competition with more respect than others.
United urgently need a trophy this season, however, so this competition is probably their best hope of achieving that, with this line up above likely to be just about strong enough to get past Villa.
Van de Beek and Lingard could spark a bit of life into the team and give MUFC a slightly new dimension, though the rest of the squad will also have to improve a lot after the dour nature of the recent home defeat against Wolves.