Ten Hag explains opening line-up
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has outlined why he picked the XI to face Brighton & Hove Albion in his opening competitive fixture as Reds boss.
The Dutchman explained that Cristiano Ronaldo was not fit enough to start, after only 45 minutes of pre-season action, in last weekend's friendly with Rayo Vallecano.
Hence, he has opted to field Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford with confirmation required on their exact positions. Ten Hag has suggested both Fernandes and Eriksen are capable of filling the centre-forward's role over the course of the game.
Ten Hag explains team selection
Erik is asked about his first Premier League XI, the new signings and Cristiano Ronaldo's fitness...
In a pre-match interview with BBC, the manager said: "Ronaldo is working really hard to get in the right fitness levels. It will take time.
"He started pre-season last week. It depends on how quick he is progressing."
During his chat with MUTV, Ten Hag added: "A short pre-season, he only started training last week. He only played 45 minutes and he's not on the fitness levels of the rest of the team. In the Premier League, the games I saw this weekend were really tough with high intensity."
The boss also appeared to indicate that Fernandes and Eriksen will move into attacking roles, hinting that Rashford will operate from the left.
"They [the midfielders] both have the intelligence and they can complement each other with their styles," added Erik in his MUTV interview. "So I have a high expectation of that."
Speaking to Sky, he stated: "As a striker, it can be Bruno but I think, most of the time, it will be Eriksen. He did that before and he can really play that role."
Of course, we will know how the Reds' formation is shaping up when we kick off at 14:00 BST.
Brighton boss Graham Potter has selected new signing Levi Colwill, a loan arrival from Chelsea, on the bench, with Danny Welbeck starting at his old stamping ground.