Manchester United play Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
United lost their opening game of the season against Brighton last weekend and Erik ten Hag will be demanding a response from his side at the Brentford Community Stadium, with the good feeling that was created in pre-season in danger of being lost.
Brentford drew with Leicester on Sunday afternoon and they demonstrated resilience to fight back from two goals down. United won this fixture against Brentford 3-1 in January earlier this year and they'll be hoping for a similar result on Saturday.
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David de Gea is a certainty to start in goal and the back four that will play ahead of him seems predictable. Diogo Dalot will start at right-back, Luke Shaw will start at left-back and it seems Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire will start in central defence.
Ten Hag signed Lisandro Martinez this summer and started him against Brighton, but Varane has returned to fitness and it would be a surprise not to see him named in the line-up. Varane remains a world-class defender, despite his growing injury concerns.
In midfield, Scott McTominay seems the most likely to be axed after his performance at the weekend. Fred seems the most likely to keep his place and he can line up with Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen, with the latter playing deeper.
Eriksen started as a false nine against Brighton but that experiment didn't work, which explains why Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start his first match of the season. Ronaldo was named on the bench in the Brighton defeat but he should start in London.
Although Ten Hag gave nothing away when asked about Ronaldo on Friday, Ronaldo is the only fit recognised centre-forward in the squad with Anthony Martial sidelined with a hamstring injury. Victor Lindelof is the only other injured United player.
Jadon Sancho looks set to start on the right-wing with Marcus Rashford on the left, playing either side of Ronaldo.
Predicted United XI: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Fernandes, Eriksen; Sancho, Ronaldo, Rashford.
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