“He is ready to make his first START of the season”- Manchester United Boss Ten Hag delivers significant squad news as he implies that stunning £38 million star who has been sulking on the bench for long will finally get his first start of the season against Twente TODAY.
Manchester United’s European journey, which was sealed in dramatic circumstances with the FA Cup victory last season, is set to begin.
FC Twente will visit Old Trafford for Manchester United’s debut game in the restructured Europa League, where they will play eight games.
Four home and four away games will determine the final rankings, and United will try to finish in the top eight to avoid having to play two additional games to qualify for the round of 16.
FC Twente at home is one of the more winnable games on United’s schedule, but games are not won on paper. It is also a particular fixture for Erik ten Hag, who supports FC Twente.
Here’s our Man Utd versus FC Twente prediction and analysis as Erik ten Hag tries to win his third different title in three seasons.
Match breakdown.
Manager Joseph Oosting sets up his squad in a similar way to United, with a 4-2-3-1 favored so that Sem Steijn, their talisman at No 10, can work his magic.
Steijn has been on fire this season, with six goals and one assist in six league matches, making him the team’s leading scorer.
He starts behind Salah-Eddine, Ten Hag’s final Ajax debutant who is currently prospering at Twente, in a multi-pronged assault. Salah-Eddine scored in Twente’s last game, a 5-0 victory against Almere, so he and the club will be full of confidence.
Manuel Ugarte should get his first start here, and he will face Steijn straight, which will be a terrific test for him to learn from right away.
Twente normally like to dominate possession, but they will be well aware that this is unlikely to happen at Old Trafford, so they will have players who can damage United on transitions as well.
United’s greatest chance of victory is to camp in the opposing half, press high, cause mistakes, and control territory, as Ten Hag’s Ajax team used to do.
Inverted fullbacks should help in the midfield on the rare transition opportunity, but this is a game where United should truly assert their dominance.
Manchester United’s likely starting lineup: Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot; Ugarte, Mainoo; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee.
