Manchester United continue their European-based pre-season campaign tomorrow with a tough fixture against Atletico Madrid in Solna, Sweden.
United’s threadbare squad will be boosted by the returns of three players who starred in the World Cup, but they are expected to still be without Benjamin Sesko, who is recovering from the injury caused by Ibrahima Konaté shoving him off the Old Trafford pitch during the 3-2 win over Liverpool.
Defence
Senne Lammens has returned from his post-World Cup holiday and is likely to come straight back into the starting line-up, with Radek Vitek making way. New signing Karl Darlow’s fitness is not clear, so there is an outside chance he could make his debut for the club.
Altay Bayindir has also returned to the squad after the World Cup and may also get minutes. Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martínez have not yet returned, so Leny Yoro will probably continue at right-back, with Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven at centre-back and Luke Shaw at left-back.
Matthijs de Ligt is still recovering from back surgery.
Midfield
Youri Tielemans has returned from holiday and is expected to make his debut. However, with only two days’ training under his belt, he is more likely to get minutes in the second half than to start the game.
With Kobbie Mainoo still on holiday, the starting central midfield pairing is likely to be Andrey Santos and Mason Mount again.
Attack
Amad is another returning star and has been in training all week, so he should start. Bryan Mbeumo, Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu will probably complete what is expected to be a very fluid front four, with Amad perhaps starting in the centre-forward role.
There is an outside possibility that Sesko could get a few minutes in the second half, and fans will once again be hoping for a debut for 15-year-old prodigy JJ Gabriel. Matheus Cunha and Marcus Rashford are still on holiday.
Final Thoughts
✅ Lammens and Amad to come straight back into the starting line-up
✅ Tielemans to make second-half debut
⚠️ Sesko unlikely to feature
Tomorrow’s match kicks off at 2pm UK time (BST).
Featured image Stu Forster via Getty Images
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