Patrick Rees
While Manchester United squad is out on a tour to Beijing, club’s vice-chairman Ed Woodwards is looking after the entire speculation of Paul Pobga. The recent reports from Sky Sports have revealed that United made a record-breaking £85m offer for Juventus midfielder, bur the Turin-based club rejected the offer and are demanding more.
Every single fan is eagerly waiting to see their team perform under the newly appointed gaffer and the red devils kicked off their pre-season in style as they managed to defeat Wigan Athletic. Now, the next hurdle for Mourinho’s men in Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s old club Borussia Dortmund and soon after that, there will be that ‘Friendly’ Manchester derby, where Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will go head to head once again.
The two teams have met just six times in the past, and all came in two-legged European competitions. The most recent meeting was in the 1997 Champions League semi-final, when the German side won both legs 1-0 on their way to lifting the trophy. United have won three of the clashes between the sides, the last coming in 1964, when United triumphed 4-0 at Old Trafford in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Two players from the current Manchester United squad have played for Dortmund, the first being Mkhitaryan and the second one is Adnan Januzaj, who spent a loan spell with Dortmund last season. Besides that, a former Red Shinji Kagawa, who spent two years with the club, will play against the Devils this time.
Here is the predicted lineup for Manchester United that could face Borussia Dortmund:
Goalkeeper: David De Gea-
The Spanish international is an obvious choice for the manager in the Premier League, but before that, the manager will want him to face some tougher opponents. Usually these games are played with the younger squad, but since United have a new manager, he might look to test the squad with full throttle, hence, he might use De Gea in the starting lineup.
Defenders: Fosu-Mensah; Bailly; Jones; Shaw-
With the absence of the Italian defender Matteo Darmian, the 18-year-old Timothy Fosu-Mensah could get his chance yet again. Well, the manager do not really have many options for the position besides Smalling, but we expect to see the Dutch defender in action for the side.
The centre back pairing will be a headache for the manager as he has some real competitors for that, but it is expected that the new signing Eric Bailly will be starting the game yet again, while his partner might chage this time as Phil Jones might come up.
The left back spot will be the obvious choice for the manager and that would be Luke Shaw.
Holding Midfielders: Michael Carrick; Ander Herrera-
The 34-year-old Englishman, who recently signed a new one year deal with the Devils is supposedly playing a major role in Jose Mourinho’s master plan, and before supplying anything concrete, the manager would be looking to find the perfect role for the midfielder and for this, these pre-season games would be the perfect venue.
Along with Carrick, the manager might use the former Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera and with Carrick guiding the backline, Herrera’s work rate can be used at a greater extent.
Attacking Trio: Mkhitaryan; Rooney; Lingard-
The 27-year-old Armenian will be looking forward to face his former side. He will most probably be playing on the flanks and will be supported by the skipper Wayne Rooney, who will be guiding the team as an attacking midfielder.
With Memphis Depay failing badly, yet again, he is most likely to be replaced by the new Manchester United hero Jesse Lingard.
Striker: Marcus Rashford-
The 18-year-old wonderkid will be looking forward to put a positive impact on the new manager, and with the absence of Ibrahimovic and Martial, he is the most likely candidate for the spot.
