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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Manchester United fans react to starting line-up vs Sheriff as Cristiano Ronaldo starts

Erik ten Hag has named his starting line-up for Manchester United's Europa League clash with Sheriff Tiraspol at the Zimbru Stadium this evening, making a collection of changes.

United, who have never faced the Moldovan outfit, will be looking to secure their first win of their Group E campaign after losing to Real Sociedad last week. The Reds, despite heading into the clash with the Spanish side on a run of four successive victories, failed to continue their recent impressive form, producing an underwhelming performance at Old Trafford.

It means that Ten Hag will be hoping to see United get back on track this evening and head into the international break on a high. The Dutchman, following confirmation of this coming Sunday's Premier League clash with Leeds United being postponed, has decided to name a strong team, making five changes from the defeat to Sociedad.

READ MORE: Sheriff vs Manchester United LIVE

Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho have come into the side, meaning Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Anthony Elanga, Fred and Casemiro have dropped out. It is the same line-up that defeated Arsenal in United's last Premier League outing, except for Cristiano Ronaldo starting at the expense of the injured Marcus Rashford.

Meanwhile, youngsters Alejandro Garnacho and Charlie McNeill have been named among the substitutes. Donny van de Beek, Anthony Martial and Rashford are among those who miss out through injury.

Having made five changes to his side, Ten Hag will be hoping it has the desired impact, as he and his players go in search of their first Europa League win of the campaign. It is the inclusion of Ronaldo for the second game running 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 hand the Portugal international another start.

As you can see from the messages displayed in the tweets above, Ten Hag's decision to keep Ronaldo in the starting line-up, particularly alongside players who have quickly formed Ten Hag's strongest line-up, has gone down well. Many fans are also confident that he will score his first goal of the season this evening.

United starting line-up: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Malacia; McTominay, Eriksen, Fernandes; Antony, Ronaldo, Sancho.

Substitutes: Heaton, Vitek, Lindelof, Maguire, Fred, Casemiro, Shaw, Elanga, Garnacho, Iqbal, McNeill.

This evening's contest at the Zimbru Stadium gets underway at 5:45pm and you can follow all of the action on our live matchday blog, which you can access by clicking here.

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