Erik ten Hag has named his starting line-up for Manchester United's Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford this evening, making a collection of changes.
United, who completed the loan signing of Bayern Munich midfielder Marcel Sabitzer on transfer deadline day, are 3-0 up on aggregate following the first-leg at the City Ground last week, meaning they virtually have one foot in the final at Wembley already. Should they see the job through without any hiccups, they will face Newcastle United on February 26.
United followed up their 3-0 win at Forest with a 3-1 FA Cup fourth round triumph over Reading on Saturday evening, meaning that Ten Hag will be determined to see another strong performance and victory from his side, as they look to secure their place in a first domestic cup final since 2018. The Dutchman, as expected, has opted to make a few changes to the side that beat the Royals, making six in total.
READ MORE: United vs Forest LIVE
Tom Heaton, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Fred and Alejandro Garnacho have come into the side, meaning David de Gea, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, who faces several months on the sidelines through injury, and Marcus Rashford have dropped out.
Meanwhile, the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Facundo Pellistri and Anthony Martial have been named among the substitutes. Jadon Sancho, too, is back in the squad for the first time since October and starts on the bench
Having made the decision to make six changes to the side that was victorious against Reading, Ten Hag will be hoping to see another victory from his team, as they look to secure their place in the final without too much fuss. It is the inclusion of Casemiro that has attracted the most attention from United's supporters in the immediate aftermath of the team news being confirmed.
Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what some of United's supporters have had to say in response to Ten Hag's decision to keep the Brazilian in the starting line-up:
As you can see from the messages displayed in the tweets above, Ten Hag's decision to hand another start to Casemiro has sparked some concern among United's fans. They believe, certainly with the current injury situation in midfield, it would have been wise to rest him and not risk him from the start, taking into account the 3-0 lead the Reds have from the first-leg.
United starting line-up: Heaton; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred, Fernandes; Antony, Weghorst, Garnacho.
Substitutes: De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia, Mainoo, Pellistri, Sancho, Rashford, Martial.
Wednesday evening's contest kicks-off at 8pm and you can follow all of the action on our live matchday blog, which you can access by clicking here.
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