v. Kick-off Sunday 4pm (11am est) Venue The Hawthorns Last season West Brom 2 Man Utd 2 Live Sky Sports 1, NBCSN, Telemundo, MUTV online Referee Mike Dean West Bromwich Albion Doubtful Evans (hamstring), McManaman (ankle) Injured Morrison (hamstring, 12 Mar), Brunt (knee, Oct) Suspended None Form DDLWWD Discipline Y54 R3 Leading scorer Rondón 6 Manchester Utd Doubtful Smalling, Valencia (both knock) Injured Borthwick-Jackson, Jones (both knock, 12 Mar), Schweinsteiger (knee, 20 Mar), Rooney (knee, Apr), Shaw (leg, May), Young (groin, unknown) Suspended None Form LWDLWW Discipline Y49 R0 Leading scorers Martial, Rooney 7 Latest team news: Chris Smalling could make his return from a shoulder injury on Sunday after missing the midweek game, while Phil Jones, Marouane Fellaini and Antonio Valencia may not be risked. Wayne Rooney, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Ashley Young and Bastian Schweinsteiger are all expected to miss out. Luke Shaw is continuing his rehabilitation and Will Keane has undergone surgery on his groin. Van Gaal will provide an update on the fitness of his players in his press conference on Friday. West Brom will be without Chris Brunt, who is set to be sidelined for six months with a knee injury. United old boy Jonny Evans has been ruled out of the clash after missing the last two games while James Morrison and Callum McManaman are doubtful.
Hoping we see the following: DDG Varela Smalling Rojo Darmian Schneiderlin Herrera Mata Rashford Martial Depay
Van Gaal has quite a few options open to him on the right. Rashford probably would need to sit this one out if he doesn't play up top. Lingard and even Januzaj could get the nod for this one.
It's no working with two forwards starting, either they both have to play centrally and play without wingers as a diamond midfield, or one of them has to drop to the bench, I am sure Martial won't drop to the bench. We missed Lingard's defensive work rate, his combination with Varela, his simplicity of passing the ball, and providing balls in to the forwards, Martial failed at doing that, Rashford did well in the second half but I am not too keen about him being there.
Save his energy as a late injection if we need a goal. His speed against tired legs would be monumental.
Hope we're not boring. 3 points would be nice, but we need to play with some urgency and confidence quick, or it will be just another false dawn...
I think people are overlooking Lingard's usefulness. Even when he's not scoring, he's involved in goals and good link up play. He's our best RW option at the moment. I think Rashford off the bench is an excellent idea, his energy, pace and direct play could be very useful as a substitute. He can also benefit from some tactical instruction based on how the game is flowing when he's introduced.
Interesting lineup for sure: I have to imagine that Van Gaal is looking at the game vs Pool Thursday and also has decided to give some guys a much needed rest (after all, some of them have played up to 4 games in 10 days recently). Kind of surprised to see Blind getting the nod again after his performance midweek vs Watford: he is certainly a player who must be close to the redzone... WBA are not to be overlooked but if there is a game that some changes can be made, this would surely be one of them.
I think Varella is better than Darmian, but I believe that Darmian's height is why he was included. We should be decent defending set pieces, which realistically is their best chance at scoring against us. LvG is always going to minimize risk.
I am disappointed with Blind to be starting Memphis should be starting he has been playing well, it will not do well to his confidence to sit on the bench. Varela should have started he has been playing very well, but he did say he needed a rest himself. Rashford will play central, Martial on the left Lingard on the right, a lot of speed and movement. Carrick needs to have a good game.
He can't play every game. I'd rather have him 100% for Thursday than 80% for both games. He's played a lot lately at a demanding position.
schneiderlin doesnt need to get rotated, and carrick is way past it. sigh. memphis, martial and rashford are really 3 players for 2 spots.