Ralf Rangnick picked Phil Jones ahead of Eric Bailly in the Manchester United side to face Liverpool because of his performance in his last start against Wolves.
Jones has been drafted in with United switching to a back three for their daunting fixture at Anfield and it is only the 30-year-old's third appearance of the season.
His last start was against Wolves at Old Trafford in the first Premier League game of 2022 and the memories of that display three months ago have earned him the surprise start.
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“He should be an important part of our backline, he played well when he played in that position against Wolves, I had to decide between him and Eric Bailly and that’s why I went with him," Rangnick told MUTV.
United have made four changes in total, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Nemanja Matic and Marcus Rashford also coming in, while Alex Telles, Jesse Lingard, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo drop out.
Ronaldo is absent after the tragic death of his baby son following the birth of twins, with both sets of players to wear black armbands tonight.
"Once again it showed there are more important things in life than football, the whole team, whole club is with him, for me it was clear he has to be where he is now with his family," said Rangnick.
Youngsters Hannibal Mejbri and Alejandro Garnacho are on the bench once again, while Scott McTominay is also back amongst the substitutes, but he is only fit enough to be used in desperate circumstances.
“He will only come in case of an emergency, he hasn’t trained with us, he didn’t train yesterday, but he told us he’d be ready to play for 10 or 15 minutes at the end if necessary," said Rangnick.
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