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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

'Maldini Shaw!' - Manchester United fans go wild as Luke Shaw starts at centre-back vs Everton

Erik ten Hag has named his starting line-up for Manchester United's FA Cup third-round showdown with Everton at Old Trafford this evening, making a handful changes.

United, who have won just one of the last four meetings between the two clubs, will be looking to register a seventh successive victory following Tuesday night's 3-0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League. Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford all scored to maintain the Reds' excellent run of recent form.

It means that Ten Hag will be determined to see another strong performance and victory from his side this evening, as they aim to become the first team to put their name in the hat for the fourth-round draw. The Dutchman, as expected, has opted to make a few changes to the side that defeated Bournemouth, making four in total.

READ MORE: United vs Everton LIVE

Diogo Dalot, who was on the bench against Bournemouth, Raphael Varane, Tyrell Malacia and Antony have come into the side, meaning Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and the injured Donny van de Beek have dropped out.

Meanwhile, the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Anthony Elanga and Alejandro Garnacho have been named among the substitutes. However, Jadon Sancho has once again been left out of the matchday squad.

Having made the decision to make four changes to the side that was victorious against the Cherries, Ten Hag will be hoping to see another victory from his team, as they look to strengthen their chances of ending their trophy drought this season. It is the Dutchman's decision to start Shaw at centre-back again that has attracted the most attention from United's supporters in the immediate aftermath of the team news being confirmed.

Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what some of United's supporters have had to say in response to Ten Hag's decision to start the England international in the heart of the defence for the third time in the last four matches:

As you can see from the messages displayed in the tweets above, Ten Hag's decision to start Shaw alongside Varane in heart of the back-four has been applauded. He was excellent in the role against both Nottingham Forest and Wolves, meaning he has, it seems, jumped ahead of both Maguire and Lindelof in the pecking order.

United starting line-up: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Shaw, Malacia; Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes; Antony, Martial, Rashford.

Substitutes: Heaton, Lindelof, Maguire, Martinez, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Elanga, Garnacho.

This evening's contest kicks-off at 8pm and you can follow all of the action on our live matchday blog, which you can access by clicking here.

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