Manchester United return to action on Friday when they make their way to the Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth.
United will be heading into the game full of confidence, having beaten Aston Villa 3-1 last weekend. The result gave United a three-point cushion between themselves and Unai Emery’s men in the race to finish within the guaranteed Champions League places.
The Cherries are also in good form, with the side currently on a 10-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. They’ve won four and drawn six games during this streak and lie in 10th in the standings.
With eight matches left, Bournemouth have an outside chance of securing European football. A win over United would take them above Everton and into eighth, at least before Saturday’s round of fixtures.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Carrick warned that Bournemouth will be a difficult game for the Red Devils.
Here’s our predicted XI for the contest:
Defence
Senne Lammens is an automatic choice between the sticks. Having started every game since his debut in October, the goalkeeper will once again be tasked with guarding the net.
Carrick is likely to go with the same back-four he deployed against Villa. This means Diogo Dalot at right-back, Luke Shaw and the opposite flank and a central defensive pairing of Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro.
The likes of Tyrell Malacia, Noussair Mazraoui and Ayden Heaven will be on the bench to provide cover in case substitutions are needed or if there’s an injury.
Midfield
Carrick has rarely tinkered with his set-up in the middle of the park and he will probably resort to his tried and tested trio of Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes.
Casemiro, who was excellent against Villa and broke the deadlock, will be United’s deepest-lying midfielder.
Mainoo will join the Brazilian in the pivot, with the fantastic Fernandes being deployed in his preferred playmaker role. Fernandes will undoubtedly have an eye on Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne’s joint Premier League assist record of 20.
The United skipper currently has 16 assists to his name.
Attack
Carrick’s attacking selections are never set in stone. Against Villa, he demonstrated that by leaving out the in-form Sesko to bring Amad back into the XI. The gamble worked: Amad was impressive and Sesko made an impact from the bench by finding the net.
At the moment, the biggest selection call appears to surround Bryan Mbeumo. The Cameroonian has done well since joining from Brentford in the summer but over the past few games, his performances have dipped below the required standard.
Taking Mbeumo out of the firing line and replacing him with Sesko seems like the logical decision to make but Carrick will probably stick with the three forwards he started against Villa: Matheus Cunha on the left, Amad on the right and Mbeumo leading the line.
If Mbeumo doesn’t improve, Carrick can turn to Sesko to make an impact off the bench once again.
Should Carrick need more firepower, he also has Mason Mount and Joshua Zirkzee to call upon
Final thoughts
- Carrick will name an unchanged XI from the one that beat Villa
- Despite his declining performance, Mbeumo will get the nod ahead of Sesko.
Featured image by Michael Regan/Getty Images
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1 comment
As want as been share Mbeumo , Cunha and Amad is not suitable to play as CF they will tend to leave the bow area and further more if any ball being push into the box they cant even challenge compare to Sesko . In first place Sesko is CF being bought and its a waste to put him play where the position being taken by Mbeumo , Amad or Cunha which is a waste and if the CF is injured you can do anything you want to that position.just let Mbeumo play where is good in and compete with Amad. That’s reality.Hope Carrick is not blind or hearing the advice of other people. If not MU can sell Sesko which he will normally demand if his situation is still as what the coach think. No need for a CF and can rotate anybody even though he is not specialise in the position.