Manchester United‘s preseason has concluded. The Premier League has begun. Brighton & Hove Albion have improved year on year since being promoted to the top flight, so this will be a difficult start.
Graham Potter will arrive at Old Trafford with the intention of upsetting Erik ten Hag’s opening day, despite the Dutch manager’s poor preparations.
Anthony Martial is missing, and United appears to be lacking in several key areas. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Following Ten Hag‘s pre-match press conference earlier today, we have a better idea of which way the Dutch manager is leaning.
Anyway, after much deliberation, our first predicted line-up of the season is in, with three new signings involved.
Perhaps the easiest position to pick is the goalkeeper. David de Gea has been relieved of the Dean Henderson burden, while the Englishman’s comments in the media will absolutely not help his position upon return.
Diogo Dalot has seemingly won the starting right-back job, with the club openly opting to move away from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The left-back slot was harder to pick from, though I have to believe Tyrell Malacia has played his way into the side thanks to his pre-season form. Harry Maguire will always start when to fit as he’s the club captain, while new signing Lisandro Martinez will be given the nod ahead of both Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane.
Midfield was tough. I think Fred will probably be amongst the first names on the team sheet, though picking his partner was hard. I’ve gone for Christian Eriksen as he feels like the better fit for the way Ten Hag likes to play. Obviously, Bruno Fernandes starts in that number ten position.
Following the news of Martial’s injury, the front three was difficult. Marcus Rashford appears to be an absolute lock to start. We believe he will remain on the left wing, with Jadon Sancho fit enough to start on the right flank. We chose Cristiano Ronaldo over Anthony Elanga as our main striker. Because of his extensive experience.
To be honest, I’m disappointed that Ronaldo, who doesn’t want to be here, will lead the line on opening day because he doesn’t deserve it. But that just goes to show how thin United’s front line is.
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