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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Manchester United predicted line-up vs Wolves as Alejandro Garnacho and Antony start

Manchester United will be targeting a return to winning ways when they welcome Wolves to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

United, who defeated the Black Country outfit 1-0 at Molineux back in December, will be looking to get their top four charge back on track following last Sunday's 1-0 defeat to West Ham United at the London Stadium. Defeat in the capital marked a second successive defeat for the Reds, leaving them just one place and one point ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool.

It means United are under stern pressure to get back to winning ways and reopen a four-point gap between themselves and Liverpool, who are not in action this weekend until Monday evening. Fortunately, though, United's record at Old Trafford this season makes good reading and they are unbeaten on their own patch since September 8.

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The Reds have also won each of their last three home matches in the Premier League without conceding a single goal, meaning boss Erik ten Hag should take comfort from their impressive home record ahead of such an important contest in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.

Goalkeeper David de Gea has kept each of those three aforementioned clean sheets and he will be determined to atone for last weekend's error at West Ham by adding to his clean sheet collection. He has kept 15 in the league this season and will be determined to take his tally to 16 against Julen Lopetegui's side, who have lost their last two away games.

Ahead of the Spaniard, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is likely to continue at right-back after starting each of the last two matches. He has been one of United's better players in recent weeks and deserves to keep his place.

At centre-back, Ten Hag must decide whether to throw Raphael Varane straight back into the equation after a month on the sidelines. He is in contention to make his return but Ten Hag might choose to ease him back into the squad and start him on the bench, allowing Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw to continue in the heart of the defence.

Diogo Dalot, meanwhile, could return to the starting line-up at the expense of Tyrell Malacia and start at left-back. The former stepped off the bench in the closing stages last weekend.

In midfield, a tactical rejig could see Ten Hag move Bruno Fernandes back into his natural attacking-midfield berth at the expense of Wout Weghorst, meaning he could join forces with Christian Eriksen and Casemiro. The latter will be hoping to produce a better showing than the one he delivered at the London Stadium.

Bruno Fernandes could be redeployed in a more natural position against Wolves. (Marc Atkins/Getty Images.)

The prospect of Fernandes moving back into midfield should open the door for Alejandro Garnacho to make his first start since suffering an ankle injury two months ago. He is available for selection after being an unused substitute last weekend and should fill the void that is expected to be vacated by Marcus Rashford, who is a major doubt because of an injury.

Should that be the case, Garnacho should join forces with Anthony Martial and Antony in attack. Martial could be tasked with spearheading the attack in Rashford's absence.

Predicted United line-up vs Wolves: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot; Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes; Antony, Martial, Garnacho.

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