Manchester United fifth pre-season fixture of the summer sees them take on Real Madrid in Houston.
Erik ten Hag has stressed that he doesn’t believe in ‘friendly games’ and that was best demonstrated in their methodical dismantling of Arsenal on Saturday night.
A team filled with largely young and fringe players will take on Wrexham 24 hours before this meeting with Los Blancos.
Here are the players Ten Hag is likely to prioritise starting against Real Madrid.
GK: Andre Onana – Completed his move to Man Utd at the back-end of last week and is in line to make his debut against Real Madrid.
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka – The once out-of-favour right-back has won back his place in Ten Hag’s regular starting lineup and should play from the off leading up to the new season.
CB: Raphael Varane – This will be Varane’s first meeting with Real Madrid since he swapped the Santiago Bernabeu for Old Trafford in 2021.
CB: Lisandro Martinez – The Argentine will absolutely love having to keep out two Brazilian forwards in Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
LB: Luke Shaw – With Tyrell Malacia injured, Shaw is almost unchallenged to start at left-back.
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CM: Casemiro – Like Varane, this will be the first time that Casemiro will reconvene with Real Madrid following his surprise move to Man Utd last summer.
CM: Mason Mount – It appears Mount is being eyed to take Christian Eriksen’s place next to Casemiro in the long term.
RM: Antony – Tentative links to former Ajax teammate Mohammed Kudus should have Antony sweating a little over his starting spot considering how underwhelming he’s proven to be in a Red Devils shirt.
AM: Bruno Fernandes – Man Utd’s new captain will lead his side out at the rather intimidating (and typically American) NRG Stadium.
LM: Marcus Rashford – Expected to make his first start for Man Utd since putting pen to paper on a bumper new contract.
CF: Jadon Sancho – Rashford on the wing but Sancho up front? Don’t rule it out, judging by Ten Hag’s comments on the latter being suitable in central areas and his impressive performances as a nine so far this summer.
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On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette discuss Sofyan Amrabat’s suitability to replace McFred in midfield and whether there’s any truth in links to Kylian Mbappe. If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Come and join us in Las Vegas from July 28th at United Con, the place to be for United fans to come together on their pre-season tour of the US. Visit united-con.com to book your place now.
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