Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Three changes for Reds at Goodison Park

Sunday 21 April 2019 12:35

Diogo Dalot, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku are all back in the Manchester United starting XI as the Reds continue the quest for a top-four finish, against Everton at Goodison Park.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made three changes to the side that lost out in Barcelona in midweek with Dalot, Matic and former Everton striker Lukaku coming in for Ashley Young, Scott McTominay and Jesse Lingard, who are all named on the bench.

It remains to be seen where Dalot will feature - we've seen him at right-back and on the right wing for the most part this season, but it looks likely he will take up the left-back position in place of the suspended Luke Shaw.

In an interview with MUTV in the tunnel before the match, Ole discussed the team changes further saying: "Nemanja has been out for a while, ill, but he’s trained really well. He’s got his energy back up and that was a given. Rom will want to prove himself again here and score goals. We need to score goals as they haven’t conceded in their last three home games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. So the big challenge for us is to carve them open and create chances against them. So I thought we’d go with quite an attacking line-up.

"Diogo has been improving all season and this is one great place to learn. To come here and test your character because, at Goodison Park on a tough day, you need character."

The Reds can go level with third-placed Tottenham Hotspur on 67 points with a victory today and, while discussing that opportunity, Ole added: "It’s a fantastic chance again. You know where we got ourselves to now, it has been unbelievable, and now it’s three games in a week that will decide on all that effort. We’ve been brilliant but lost to Barcelona in the Champions League. Of course that is disappointing but we want to get there again. We have three great chances to prove what we have."

United will face an Everton side who are in a battle with a host of other teams to finish seventh and have a decent record, of late, at Goodison. Marco Silva has been forced into one change with Andre Gomes suspended for three matches after accepting a charge of violent conduct. That means former United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin starts, as does ex-Reds defender Michael Keane.

Everton: Pickford; Coleman (c), Keane, Zouma, Digne; Schneiderlin, Gueye; Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin.

Subs: Stekelenburg, Jagielka, Walcott, Tosun, McCarthy, Davies, Lookman.

United: De Gea (c); Lindelof, Smalling, Jones, Dalot; Matic, Fred, Pogba; Rashford, Lukaku, Martial.

Subs: Romero, Young, Andreas, Lingard, Mata, McTominay, Alexis. 

Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com. Download the Official App here.

Recommended: