Manchester United will look to carry their brilliant domestic form into their next match in the Champions League campaign this term when they face Russian biggies CSKA Moscow in their second match of the season.
The Red Devils have already won their first match against FC Basel at Old Trafford by 3-0 to announce their comeback into Europe’s most elite club competition and will hope to repeat their performance when they take on CSKA in their own backyard.
The reigning Europa League champions will be without the services of two of their most dependable players in the defence and the midfield in the form of Phil Jones and Marouane Fellaini, with the defender being kept out of action owing to a suspension and the midfielder missing the match due to an injury.
Apart from them, Manchester United will also not be able to avail the services of their influential midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been ruled out of the action with an injury.
Defence-
The Red Devils will be looking to welcome back the Ivory Coast international Eric Bailly at the heart of the defence after the defender missed the action owing to his three-match ban, imposed on him after he saw the red card in last season’s Europa League semi-final. He will be pairing up with centre-back Chris Smalling, while Antonio Valencia and Daley Blind are set to start in the right and left back positions simultaneously. David De Gea will start on goal.
Midfield-
With Marouane Fellaini and Paul Pogba missing, the onus will be on Nemanja Matic to stabilise the midfield and vie for the ball with the opponents in the middle of the pitch, which he has been doing quite well so far this season.
He is set to be coupled with the Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera, who was one of their stars in the last term. The duo will have to support the attacking trio of Jesse Lingard, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial and will have to deliver quality balls into the opposition box, setting them up to score goals.
Attack-
As usual, Romelu Lukaku will spearhead the Red Devils’ attack and will look to continue scoring goals in the European competition as well. The Belgian looked sharp in the last match against FC Basel and scored and will look to add to his tally.
Predicted Lineup-
De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Blind, Matic, Herrera, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Martial, Lukaku.
