Jose Mourinho is likely to be forced into making a few changes, when Manchester United face off against BSC Young Boys on Tuesday night.
Manchester United will look to get back to winning ways, when they take on Swiss champions BSC Young Boys in their penultimate Group H encounter of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Having failed to win their last two games (D1 L1), the Red Devils find themselves under some pressure to bounce back strongly and the tie against Young Boys provides them the perfect opportunity to do so.
Currently occupying second spot in the group, Manchester United stand to qualify to the Round of 16, should they claim maximum points against Gerardo Seoane’s side on Tuesday, provided Valencia fail to get a victory against group leaders Juventus.
David De Gea is very much a guaranteed starter for the fixture on Tuesday night. However, there is set to be some amount of shuffling in the backline in front of him, after the manager confirmed that Victor Lindelof, who was one of United’s better players in the goalless draw against Crystal Palace, is set for a lengthy absence.
[Victor will have a] scan tomorrow, but by the experience of the medical department and the feelings of the player, he has a muscular problem and a muscular problem takes time,
revealed Mourinho at his pre-match press conference.
“I would say if we have Victor available for the Christmas period when we need, if possible, every player to be available for that difficult period until the Newcastle match on 2 January, it will be good.”
The Portuguese then went on to claim that Matteo Darmian, who made only his second appearance of the season this past weekend has “a little [problem]” and will not be involved on Tuesday, and ruled out Marcos Rojo out of the tie as well.
Veteran Ashley Young is expected to move back to the right side of the defence, with Luke Shaw set to take the left-back slot. Chris Smalling should hold on to his place in the heart of the defence though, and is likely to be paired up with Manchester United’s forgotten man Eric Bailly.
A switch to the 4-3-3 setup is very much on the cards for Manchester United on Tuesday night, with Ander Herrera set to return to the team in the middle of the park, having not featured against Palace at the weekend. Nemanja Matic is expected to be retained at the base of the midfield though, in spite of his underwhelming displays.
Paul Pogba was the star of the show when these two teams met the last time, scoring a double and setting up the third goal. He will once again have a crucial role to play, starting in the third midfield slot for the home team.
Anthony Martial has been Manchester United’s in-form man in recent weeks and while he wasn’t up to scratch against Palace at the weekend, he should once again get the nod on the left flank for the European encounter. On the right side, Jesse Lingard is likely to be retained over Juan Mata.
Romelu Lukaku, who boasts a good record against the Swiss Super League leaders from his Everton days, is once again set to spearhead the attack for Mourinho’s side, ahead of Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez.
