Ten Hag explains United line-up

Monday 22 August 2022 19:40

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has made four alterations to the line-up for the visit of Liverpool.

The Reds manager reacted to the 4-0 loss at Brentford last time out by ringing the changes for the Old Trafford encounter, including two in defence.

Raphael Varane starts alongside Lisandro Martinez, with Tyrell Malacia drafted in for Luke Shaw at left-back.

Bruno Fernandes takes over the captaincy with Harry Maguire on the bench.

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Scott McTominay replaces Fred and Anthony Elanga is promoted into the XI after coming on as a substitute at Brentford.

Cristiano Ronaldo makes way and is waiting in the wings, along with Anthony Martial, following his injury lay-off.

The boss appears determined to press the visitors from the outset, explaining why Ronaldo starts on the bench.

"We know we need a good pressure on their possession game because they are good in it and clear," he told MUTV. "One of the reasons is also to hurt them. We know we can break this front four, I would say, we can break and we can attack the back of their back four. They have the capabilities to do that. That’s why."

As regards Varane and Malacia coming into the defence, Erik added: "We have Varane, we as we all know, he’s a great defender. He wins everything in his career until now. He still has [more] ahead in front of him so I am really happy with him for this game.

"So we pick him. We didn’t pick Harry because also we want agility and mobility in the back four. So the couple today, together with Varane is Lisandro Martinez. Further in the back four, we play with Dalot and Malacity, with speed and mobility."

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United: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Malacia; McTominay, Eriksen; Sancho, Fernandes (c), Elanga; Rashford.

Substitutes: Heaton, Maguire, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, Van de Beek, Garnacho, Martial, Ronaldo.

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson; Elliott, Milner, Henderson; Salah, Firmino, Diaz.

Substitutes: Adrian, Davies, Fabinho, Tsimikas, Carvalho, Clark, Bajcetic, Phillips, Van den Berg.

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