Manchester United fans were treated to a Friday night treat when the club announced the arrival of Wout Weghorst less than 24 hours before their derby clash with Manchester City.
However, the Dutch attacker has not registered in time for Saturday's meeting after the Reds were unable to get the deal over the line before midday. In October’s 6-3 defeat, Marcus Rashford led the line before the returning Anthony Martial came on to grab two goals.
The Frenchman faces a late fitness test to face City again at Old Trafford, the centre-forward currently nursing a leg knock. If unavailable, it would likely mean that top scorer Rashford is selected up front once more, despite most of his club-high 15 goals coming from the left wing.
READ MORE: Erik ten Hag explains he signed Weghorst
United fans are fearing the worst and anticipating that Martial will sit out a 17th game of the season, and so have placed Rashford up top. They have picked Antony, who scored in the 6-3 Etihad defeat, in his usual right-wing slot and have decided to bring in 18-year-old Alejandro Garnacho on the left for his first Manchester derby.
The midfield unsurprisingly consists of in-form trio of Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen. Supporters have brought World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez back into the line-up for partner Raphael Varane in central defence once more.
It would be the Argentine’s first Premier League home start at Old Trafford since October’s 1-0 win over West Ham, albeit he featured for the full game in Tuesday’s League Cup win over Charlton. Meanwhile, Luke Shaw is pushed out to his traditional left-back slot again after a short run of games at centre-half post-Qatar.
They all guard David de Gea, while fans have been forced into a final change in the backline after Diogo Dalot was ruled out of the clash with City.
As a result, Aaron Wan-Bissaka comes back into the line-up after enjoying something of a comeback following the mid-season break amid Dalot’s previous injury sustained at the World Cup.
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