Erik ten Hag has shared some important team news ahead of the Premier League opener against Fulham.
Manchester United are ready to begin the Premier League season in style, welcoming Fulham to Old Trafford on Friday night.
The game could see three players make their Old Trafford debuts, with the duo of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui aiming to play after their transfers were completed on Tuesday.
Elsewhere Joshua Zirkzee will want to make his debut, and there are also several positions in which Erik ten Hag has big decisions to make for the game.
Now, speaking prior to the game he has shed light on some of these topics, with team news and updates ahead of facing Fulham.
Erik ten Hag shares team news ahead of United vs Fulham
As we approach just 24 hours before the new Premier League season kicks off, Ten Hag has spoken to the media, as quoted by the club website.
Of particular interest was whether the two former Bayern Munich players would be ready to play on Friday and Ten Hag explained that they will be available.
“They will be in the squad,” said Ten Hag.
This might not mean they start, but after seeing De Ligt and Mazraoui in training and looking so sharp, it seems likely they will be thrown straight in against Fulham.
Ten Hag also had an update on Luke Shaw’s fitness, explaining that: “I think he will return in the short term, it doesn’t take long.
“We are looking forward of course, Luke Shaw is a very important player for our team.
“He is massively important so we want to get him back as soon as possible but we can’t force this process.”
Finally, the boss hinted at a strong team as he explained that despite injuries, he still has a good group to choose from.
De Ligt has to start vs Fulham
One player who simply must start against Fulham is De Ligt, as he needs to start strong and given the injury crisis currently ongoing at the club, it is important he hits the ground running.
Rio Ferdinand made it clear that if he were in De Ligt’s shoes, he would be demanding to start, and so we expect the Dutchman to be doing that.
With this in mind, we expect a centre-back pairing of Lisandro Martinez and De Ligt.
In the full-back positions, Mazraoui also should be starting as options are so slim here, and so we imagine he will be on one side with Diogo Dalot on the other, given how interchangeable they are it could be either combination.
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