Manchester United have handed a start to young defender Willy Kambwala for their lunchtime Premier League trip to West Ham amid reports of an illness hitting the squad.
Erik ten Hag's side head to the London Stadium for their final pre-Christmas fixture this afternoon looking to build on the positives gained from their goalless draw with title contenders Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.
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The visitors have Bruno Fernandes back in action in Stratford after their captain was suspended for the meeting with their fiercest rivals for collecting his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the dismal 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth.
But Diogo Dalot missed out against West Ham after his controversial late sending off on Merseyside, with a show of dissent seeing him pick up a pair of quick-fire yellow cards in just a matter of seconds from referee Michael Oliver.
None of Harry Maguire, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Tyrell Malacia or Amad Diallo will be back for United, while Victor Lindelof has undergone minor surgery and will miss another couple of weeks.
Anthony Martial has been unwell of late and Ten Hag revealed on Friday that there is illness lingering in other parts of the squad too. Christian Eriksen will be involved after returning to training at Carrington this week following a knee injury.
Jadon Sancho, meanwhile, remains unavailable for selection and is expected to depart Old Trafford during the January transfer window amid his ongoing stand-off with the under-fire Ten Hag.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka should replace the suspended Dalot in a like-for-like change at right-back, while Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane should continue in central defence with no Martinez, Maguire or Lindelof to call upon.
The return of Fernandes should result in Scott McTominay being pushed back from No10 into a more familiar holding midfield role, leaving Ten Hag to pick between impressive youngster Kobbie Mainoo or the experience of summer signing Sofyan Amrabat alongside the Scot - presuming Eriksen will be eased back in from the bench.
Another conundrum for Ten Hag is in the final third, where he must decide whether or not to restore an out-of-sorts Marcus Rashford to the starting XI at the expense of either Antony or Alejandro Garnacho, both of whom flash their quality but often lack end product.
Confirmed team news
West Ham XI: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri, Soucek, Alvarez, Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta, Bowen
Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Fornals, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer, Mubama
Manchester United XI: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Kambwala, Evans, Shaw, Mainoo, McTominay, Fernandes, Antony, Garnacho, Hojlund
Subs: Bayindir, Amrabat, Rashford, Eriksen, Reguilon, Pellistri, van de Beek, Mejbri, Bennett
Injured: Maguire, Casemiro, Martinez, Mount, Malacia, Diallo, Lindelof
Suspended: Dalot
Unavailable: Sancho
Time and date: 12.30pm GMT on Saturday December 23, 2023
Venue: London Stadium
