Manchester United will play hosts to David Wagner’s Huddersfield Town side in matchweek 19 of the 2018-19 Premier League on Wednesday.
Manchester United will be looking to make it two wins in two games under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, when they face off against relegation battlers Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.
Manchester United kicked off the post Jose Mourinho era with a fine 5-1 triumph over Cardiff City this past weekend, in what was Solskjaer’s managerial debut. And the Norwegian will be aiming to lead his team to another victory in his first home game in charge.
Ahead of the game, the Baby-faced Assassin once again emphasized that he will be setting his team up to play fluid, attacking football, which was on display in the win against Cardiff. Speaking in his pre-match presser, Solskjaer addressed the issue.
“The players have not said anything about a handbrake [being on]. But we spoke in a team meeting before the Cardiff game about when we get one goal, we want to get two. When you get two, you want to get three. That’s just the nature of this team, this club, that you always go and attack.
“The attacking philosophy is in the walls of Man United. That’s tradition, that’s history and that’s how we play. That’s how we want to play so Cardiff was a good reflection of what we want.”
While there will be a strong temptation for the caretaker boss to stick with the same side that hammered Cardiff at the weekend, given the fixture congestion, a few changes are likely for Manchester United. No change is expected in goal, however, with David De Gea expected to continue under the woodwork.
Diogo Dalot was named on the bench for the weekend game, but could find himself walking back into the starting XI on Wednesday, replacing Ashley Young at right-back. Luke Shaw is expected to hold on to his place on the left side.
Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo continue to be absent for Manchester United with injuries. Eric Bailly is available, but is likely to be benched once again, with the partnership of Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof set to take the field again after impressing against Cardiff.
Nemanja Matic had one of his better outings of the ongoing campaign last time out and that should earn him another start at the base of the midfield. Paul Pogba ran the show for Manchester United against the Bluebirds and should look to build on that performance on Wednesday.
Ander Herrera, who was on the scoresheet on Saturday, could be dropped though, in order to hand a rare start for £52 million summer signing Fred.
Manchester United continue to be without the services of Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku in attack, with the former still recovering from an injury, while the latter is on a compassionate leave.
Given the performance that the attacking trio of Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial put on show against Cardiff, it is highly improbable that Solskjaer would be looking to break that partnership on Wednesday.
