Manchester United have almost sealed their place in the next round of the Europa League after a convincing 3-0 win over Saint-Etienne. United were in control throughout the game and the result was never in any doubt. Zlatan Ibrahimovic notched up a hat-trick and with most of the pre-match talk about the Pogba brothers coming up against each other, it was almost given that the big Swede would make sure the post-match headlines would be about him. He is up to 23 goals already and with a sizeable chunk of season left, he is set to break a number of other records too.
Jose Mourinho set out a fairly strong team with the view of making a lot of ground in the 2-legged fixture and with that objective achieved, there is likely to be wholesale changes when they travel to France next week.
But before that, they will have to contend with an FA Cup fixture against Blackburn Rovers. The Old Trafford outfit have already reached the EFL Cup final where they are favourites to win against a Southampton side who are struggling right now. They have a good chance of advancing in the FA Cup as well as they have been handed a fairly easy fixture.
Blackburn are currently in the 23rd spot and will have a difficult time against the Red Devils.
PREDICTED MANCHESTER UNITED XI VS BLACKBURN ROVERS (4-2-3-1)
DEFENCE
Romero will be in goal and will look to impress in the few opportunities that he is getting. Darmian is likely to be right-back with Valencia in line for a rest. The fullback region has been an area of concern for Manchester United and Darmian will look to impress the manager in what is his conventional position. There will likely be rotations in central defence with Rojo likely to come in along with Smalling. At left-back, Shaw will hope to get a chance amidst doubts regarding his long-term future.
MIDFIELD
Schweinsteiger might get a start and Fellaini is likely to be retained in the double pivot. Mourinho might look towards Herrera if he looks to have some sort of guarantee but Fellaini and Bastian should be good enough to do the job. In the No.10 role, Mata can be deployed with Rooney and Mkhitaryan slight doubts.
ATTACK
On the left flank, Martial is likely to start with Lingard on the opposite side. Zlatan Ibrahimovic should get a well-deserved rest and Rashford will start up front.
