Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has already confirmed that he will be playing some of the key players who were rested for their last match against Reading in the FA Cup.
The Red Devils cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Championship side Reading this past Saturday. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford took center stage, even as regular first team starters including Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David de Gea were rested.
However, Mourinho has confirmed that the rested stars are set to start against Hull City in the League Cup.
“I play with the players that didn’t play today,” said Mourinho after Saturday’s cup win, according to the official club website.
“I played with fresh players and I don’t want to say anything about first choice or second choice but we played with fresh players, the players who didn’t play against West Ham.
“In the next match against Hull City we are going to play again with fresh players. So it’s easy to know our team – Zlatan, Pogba, Herrera, Valencia. The guys that didn’t play today.”
There is also some positive news on the injury front. Argentinian defender Marcos Rojo came off with a suspected muscle tear during the game against Reading. The Daily Record now report that the injury isn’t as serious as it was first thought to be and that Rojo should be available for most of United’s matches in January.
It is highly unlikely that Mourinho will field Marcos Rojo so soon after his injury scare. This means we will see a central defensive pairing of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, while Antonio Valencia returns as right-back.
Englishman Luke Shaw is also fit for the clash and could finally be handed a chance to impress at left-back by Mourinho. The return of Ander Herrera will likely see him paired up with Michael Carrick in central midfield.
The world’s most expensive player Paul Pogba will take up the advanced midfield position, flanked on either side by French sensation Anthony Martial and Armenian wonder Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Two of the club’s biggest talents line up at either end of the field, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns as central striker and David de Gea is set to start in goal.
