Aheed Abrar
Erik ten Hag unsure about starting Wout Weghorst for Manchester United against Crystal Palace
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is unsure about starting new signing Wout Weghorst against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Red Devils will take on the Eagles on Wednesday (18 January) at Selhurst Park. The Holland international has been included in the matchday squad for the trip to South London.
Speaking to the media via Manchester Evening News about the prospect of the 30-year-old being in the lineup, Ten Hag was not certain about the striker’s involvement from the start.
“I have to think about that. Of course, I know a lot about Palace – we faced them also in pre-season and know how their team is – but the total plan I don’t have now. I didn’t construct it until now.
“So from this point on we can construct the plan and prepare the team in the right way.”
Weghorst made his way to the Old Trafford side on loan for the rest of the season from Burnley. He spent half the campaign in Turkey with Besiktas, where the striker scored nine goals in 18 appearances in all competitions.
The 30-year-old also featured for the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup. He came in clutch for Louis van Gaal’s team as they made a comeback against Argentina in the quarter-finals, only to lose on penalties.
Anthony Martial was the only natural number nine in the squad for some time prior to the Holland international’s arrival this month. The France international was left without any support after Cristiano Ronaldo left midway through the season.
Unfortunately, the 27-year-old has had issues with injuries in the current campaign. He has hardly completed 90 minutes in a match since the Dutch manager’s arrival.
In our previous fixture against Manchester City, the former AS Monaco star was substituted at half-time. In recent weeks, the forward has not looked at his best.
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Marcus Rashford has made a massive impact at the Old Trafford side this season. However, he cannot be expected to score week in, week out for us. It remains to be seen whether Weghorst can shoulder some of the burden in the attack for the rest of the campaign and whether he is given minutes against Palace.
