Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Confirmed: United's side to face Basaksehir

Tuesday 24 November 2020 18:45

Manchester United's team to take on Istanbul Basaksehir in the UEFA Champions League has been announced, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handing Edinson Cavani his first start for the club.

The 33-year-old Uruguayan will lead our attack against the Turkish champions at Old Trafford in the Reds' fourth Group H fixture.

Cavani has made four substitute appearances for United since his October arrival, scoring once in our 3-1 win against Everton at Goodison Park.

Our new no.7 certainly has an impressive goal record to support his inclusion as we seek to get back to winning ways in the Champions League after losing 2-1 in Istanbul. The striker has played 62 times in the competition, scoring 30 goals for Paris St Germain and five for Napoli.
Cavani is one of two changes from the United XI that won 1-0 last Saturday evening at Old Trafford against West Bromwich Albion. He comes in for Juan Mata while Donny van De Beek, who played in Istanbul, is in midfield, replacing Nemanja Matic.

There are five changes from the Reds side beaten in Turkey earlier this month. David De Gea is back in goal for Dean Henderson and Alex Tuanzebe joins Mata and Matic on the bench tonight after playing away against Basaksehir. Luke Shaw, who played in the away game, is still injured and Alex Telles makes his second consecutive start after appearing against West Brom at the weekend.

This is the side selected by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:

United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles; van de Beek, Fred; Rashford, Fernandes, Martial; Cavani.

Substitutes: Grant, Henderson, Williams, Tuanzebe, Mengi, Fosu-Mensah, Matic, Mata, James, Pellistri, Greenwood, Ighalo.

Ole's pre-match interview Video

Ole's pre-match interview

The boss explains his line-up for the Basaksehir game and reveals why Paul Pogba is absent again...

Our visitors bring a few familiar faces to Old Trafford, with the most recognisable being our former full-back Rafael.

The popular Brazilian made over 100 appearances for the Reds' senior side between 2008 and 2015, when he eventually moved on to play for Lyon in France.

Rafael, who is now 30, joined United as a teenager with his twin brother Fabio and one of his highlights was scoring at Anfield against Liverpool in a win in September 2017.
Video
Watch Rafael's famous goal against Liverpool at Anfield.

Turkish boss Okan Buruk makes just one change from the team that started in their victory against us in Istanbul three weeks ago, with Nacer Chadli taking the place of Aleksic on the left side.

Former Spurs winger Chadli is one of several Basaksehir players with Premier League experience; the other notables are Demba Ba, formerly of West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea, and also Liverpool’s defensive stalwart Martin Skrtel who played over 250 matches for the Merseysiders.

Istanbul Basaksehir: Mert Gunok; Rafael, Skrtel, A. Epureanu, Bolingoli; Berkay Ozcan; Visca, Deniz Turuc, Irfan Can Kahveci, Chadli; Ba. 

Substitutes: Volkan Babacan, Ahmet Kivanc, Hasan Ali Kaldirim, Giuliano, Mahmut Tekdemir, Gulbrandsen, Ponck, Kaplan, Karakus.

The Group H game gets under way at 20:00 GMT and you can follow live updates on ManUtd.com and in our Official App.

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