The Europa League continues on Thursday with Manchester United taking on Porto at the Estadio do Dragao on game week two.
Games are coming thick and fast right now, and for Erik ten Hag this game cannot come quick enough as he will be desperate to respond to the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last weekend.
This latest result has once again left the Manchester United manager under pressure and this led to Ten Hag fighting back with an interview.
Due to such terrible performances and results this season, the next two games for Ten Hag are pivotal – so it is of the utmost importance that he leads United to a win on Thursday.
In order to see this happen, he will need to get his team selection spot on.
How will Manchester United line-up vs Porto
After the performance, Manchester United put in on Sunday, Ten Hag could be forgiven for wanting to drop his entire team – but he will know he has to field a strong selection as he cannot face another bad performance or result.
Ten Hag will be boosted by Kobbie Mainoo’s availability, however Mason Mount will be absent with a knock. Besides this, little has changed in terms of the players available to Ten Hag.
So here’s how we predict Ten Hag to line-up for United vs Porto.
Andre Onana
In goal should be Andre Onana as he is one of the only players who can hold their heads high this season. Onana has been in solid form and prevented things from being even worse.
Noussair Mazraoui
At right-back, Noussair Mazraoui is coming off the worst game since his arrival at United in the summer. That being said he is a player Ten Hag trusts and likely plays here.
Matthijs de Ligt
Moving into central defence, Matthijs de Ligt would be in a similar situation to Mazraoui. When the stakes are this high, Ten Hag will pick the players who he has tried and tested.
Lisandro Martinez
Partnering De Ligt we expect will be Lisandro Martinez despite a bad outing against Tottenham. Improvements are needed otherwise this could be the final week of Ten Hag’s reign.
- READ MORE: Who is Lisandro Martinez? Step inside the life of Manchester United’s tenacious Argentine
Diogo Dalot
In at left-back again we expect will be Diogo Dalot, mainly through having no options. Dalot needs to be rested at some point, but we doubt it will be in this game as no natural options have travelled to Portugal. Dalot has played for Porto and United, so gets to face his former club on Thursday night.
Manuel Ugarte
It has been far from a dream start to life at Old Trafford for Manuel Ugarte, however, he can hardly be blamed and therefore we fully expect he will start against Porto – of course being a former Sporting Lisbon player this game will mean plenty to him.
Christian Eriksen
Partnering with Ugarte, we expect will be Christian Eriksen as Mainoo should not be risked. Eriksen has impressed in recent weeks and therefore deserves to play here – however, we would love to see Dan Gore get minutes.
Amad Diallo
United are a far better team with Amad Diallo than without him and therefore in this must-win game, he should be starting on the right wing.
Bruno Fernandes
Moving into the number 10 position, Bruno Fernandes likely starts despite his atrocious form. Bruno saw red against Spurs which has since been overturned, however, he still likely start for Ten Hag.
Alejandro Garnacho
Despite being far from his best against Spurs, we imagine in this one Ten Hag will choose Alejandro Garnacho, resting Marcus Rashford in the process. Garnacho had fans signing his name despite 3-0 defeat at the weekend, and Ten Hag has similar faith in the Argentine.
Rasmus Hojlund
For Rasmus Hojlund this game could represent the first start of the season – and with Joshua Zirkzee struggling in front of goal United could and probably should turn to the Dane here.
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