Manchester United will be going in pursuit of a fifth successive Premier League victory when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City after the international break.
United, who were beaten 4-1 on their last visit to the blue side of city, posted a fourth straight league win over a fortnight ago, beating current table-toppers Arsenal 3-1 at Old Trafford. It was a statement victory from Erik ten Hag's side, meaning they will fancy their chances of going toe-to-toe with City in just over a week's time.
However, United's hopes of maintaining their recent momentum in the league were derailed by the unfortunate postponements of their scheduled clashes with Crystal Palace and Leeds United earlier this month. Nevertheless, those unexpected cancelations allowed Ten Hag to deploy a stronger team than he would have planned to against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League last Thursday night.
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The Dutchman was able to pick from a large pool of players for the trip to Moldova, even though he had to leave some players behind because of injury complaints. Marcus Rashford, who has scored three goals in the league so far this term, missed out because of a muscle problem and the likes of Luke Shaw, Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial were also unavailable.
With that in mind, the international break may have come at a good time for United, allowing them to try and recover some of their injured players ahead of what is set to be a relentless period. With that said, MEN Sport has taken a close look at United's strongest available line-up if everyone is fit and available for selection.
Goalkeeper - David de Gea
The Spaniard has started each of United's eight fixtures in all competitions so far this season, firmly establishing himself as Ten Hag's first choice goalkeeper. Since producing a poor performance in the 4-0 battering at Brentford last month, he has responded by keeping three clean sheets in his last six games, conceding just three goals.
Defence - Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia
The back-four, on current form, picks itself. Since the aforementioned quartet started together for the first time in the 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford, Ten Hag has not looked back.
Varane has established himself as United's leader at the back, helping both Martinez and Malacia adapt to life in the Premier League. Dalot, too, has also improved in recent weeks, becoming key in Ten Hag's way of playing.
Midfield - Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes
Although Scott McTominay has kept Casemiro out of the side for now, there is a general perception that the Brazilian, eventually, will force his way into Ten Hag's preferred line-up and dislodge the Scotland international. The 30-year-old has started just once since signing from Real Madrid last month, that being in the Europa League against Real Sociedad.
Ahead of him, Eriksen and Fernandes have nailed down their places in midfield, both producing excellent performances in recent weeks. Eriksen has become undroppable.
Attack - Antony, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho
Cristiano Ronaldo is the elephant in the room here. Does Ten Hag start him or not? He got his first goal of the season against Sheriff, filling in for Rashford, but you would expect the latter to reclaim his place, if back fit for the clash with City.
Ten Hag prefers a quick, fluid front-three, and one that features Rashford, supported by Antony and Sancho either side, has the potential to do damage, as was proven against Arsenal. Rashford is bang in form right now and deserves to keep his place.
United's strongest line-up: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Malacia; Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes; Antony, Rashford, Sancho.
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