Rangnick explains team selection

Sunday 05 December 2021 13:00

Ralf Rangnick has named his first team as Manchester United manager as the Reds host Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

The German coach has named an unchanged team from the side that beat Arsenal 3-2 at Old Trafford in midweek. Under caretaker manager Michael Carrick, United had to come from behind to beat the Gunners.

Two goals came from Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese forward scored the 800th and 801st goals of his career. Our No.7 leads the line once again, flanked by young English wingers Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

Speaking to club media pre-match, Rangnick explained his starting line-up:

"Well, the team won against Arsenal, they did well, especially in second half and since everybody was fully fit and recovered, for me there was no reason to change the first XI," he told Stewart Gardner.

Rangnick explains his first starting XI Video

Rangnick explains his first starting XI

Watch as Ralf explains his starting XI, message to the players and two notable absentees...

Young Swedish winger Anthony Elanga is on a strong bench for United, with Rangnick having several exciting options to turn to if the match requires it.

Asked about what his message would be to the players today, Rangnick said:

"I mean in the end, quite apart from having control and formation and tactics, it's still a game, they need to enjoy it. It's a question of energy, you also saw it against Arsenal. In the end, they wanted to win that game and they invested a lot of energy into that and this together with the massive support of the fans should also be an advantage for us today."

A couple of notable absentees from the squad are Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial. Rangnick confirmed that both are unavailable after noting that they "felt pain" in yesterday's training session.

TEAM LINE-UPS

United: De Gea; Dalot, Maguire (c), Lindelof, Telles; McTominay, Fred; Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford; Ronaldo.

Subs: Henderson; Bailly, Jones, Wan-Bissaka, Matic, van de Beek, Mata, Greenwood, Elanga.

Crystal Palace: Guaita; Clyne, Tomkins, Guehi, Mitchell, Kouyate, Schlupp, Gallagher, Ayew, Benteke, Zaha (c).

Subs: Butland; Kelly, Riedewald, Milivojevic, Hughes, Eze, Olise, Mateta, Edouard.

Recommended: