Michael Carrick will lead his Manchester United side out for the first time this season at Old Trafford, knowing that anything other than a win this afternoon will be unacceptable.
The big news is the return to the starting line-up of Marcus Rashford after his Aston Villa and FC Barcelona odyssey.
The head coach welcomes back Mason Mount after a short-term injury, but he chose not to include him in the squad. Carrick is still without Matthijs de Ligt, Carlos Baleba, Amad and Manuel Ugarte.
The confirmed starting XI is as follows:
Defence
Senne Lammens is in goal.
The back four has two changes. Nous Mazraoui gives way at right-back to Diogo Dalot. Harry Maguire is at right centre-back, Lisandro Martinez returns at left centre-back and Luke Shaw is at left-back.
It’s a more attack-focussed defence, with Dalot more prone to bombing forward than Mazraoui and Martinez and excellent passer from deep.
Midfield and Attack
Kobbie Mainoo and Youri Tielemans will be the central midfield pair, with Andrey Santos stepping down to the bench.
Ahead of them, Bruno Fernandes will be in the number 10 position, flanked by Bryan Mbeumo on the right and Marcus Rashford or Matheus Cunha on the left.
Either Rashford or Cunha will play in the centre forward position, with Patrick Dorgu making way.
Substitutes
On the bench are Karl Darlow, Nous Mazraoui, Leny Yoro, Heaven, Santos, Shea Lacey, Dorgu, Benjamin Sesko and Josh Zirkzee.
Kick-off at Old Trafford is at 4.30pm BST.
U-N-I-T-E-D.
The team for us ❤️📋
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 30, 2026
Featured image by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
