Memories of Leeds United’s Chelsea win will not desert Jesse Marsch quickly and that’s what may stop him from reacting too hastily to last weekend’s Brighton & Hove Albion loss. It would be very easy to look at Saturday’s starters, Saturday’s bench and pull the trigger on four or five changes.
However, Marsch talked about keeping emotion out of his decisions for Tuesday night with Everton. He said: “Despite my reaction to the referee, I'm not too emotional from this.
“I saw the game pretty clearly and now I have to take a little time to think about how guys are, where guys are at physically, what we will need specifically for the Everton match and then to put a team on the pitch that can manage that game the best we can.”
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In an earlier answer, he said: “It's a good thing we didn't push too many guys midweek.” That would suggest he is quietly confident those who played in Falmer will not be too tired to then face Everton having missed the Barnsley game.
Beyond the 12 Premier League starters Marsch has used so far this season, Mateusz Klich and Luis Sinisterra have certainly made the fiercest claims for inclusion. A case can be made for either or both facing Everton.
Brenden Aaronson, Jack Harrison and Rodrigo are surely locked in because of their form and proven stamina. That leaves Daniel James as the obvious route in for a new face.
On paper, Sinisterra’s track record at Feyenoord suggested he would be in United’s strongest XI, and after a central role in the Tykes win before a decent burst at Brighton, this could be his chance. It’s hard to see where or why Marsch would change anything else.
Patrick Bamford is going to be fit enough for the bench at most, while Diego Llorente probably has enough credit in the bank from the opening three matches to hold off Liam Cooper for one more week. The captain will be hard to ignore once he’s proved his fitness, however.
Predicted line-up: Meslier; Kristensen, Llorente, Koch, Struijk; Adams, Roca; Sinisterra, Aaronson, Harrison; Rodrigo.
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