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Manchester United’s pre-season kicks off in earnest in the early hours of tomorrow morning as they start their tour of the United States with 90 minutes against Arsenal in Los Angeles.
The Red Devils have already got two low-key matches under their belt, a 1-0 loss to Rosenborg in Norway and a 2-0 victory over Rangers in Edinburgh.
There were few first team stars available for both of those games, but Erik ten Hag now has a number of internationals returning after their holidays and others returning from injury, making team selection a little more unpredictable.
It is customary in early pre-season friendlies for the boss to field a strong XI in the first half and a completely different outfield 10 in the second. We expect this to continue.
It seems almost certain that Andre Onana will be in goal against the Gunners, possibly for the whole match.
With Diogo Dalot still on holiday, Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be at right back.
Ten Hag then has a choice of four centre backs, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof available again to compete with new signing Leny Yoro and veteran Jonny Evans for places.
We expect the manager to start with Yoro again, possibly alongside Maguire, with Lindelof playing left back in Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia’s absences. Yoro was excellent in his debut against Rangers.
Evans would then come on in the second half alongside Will Fish, with either Sam Murray or Harry Amass at left back and Rhys Bennet at right back.
In midfield, two of Casemiro, Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen will start. We’ve gone for the two elder statesmen, with McTominay and Toby Collyer replacing them at half time.
Kobbie Mainoo is still on holiday.
Mason Mount could play in the number 10 role, potentially being replaced by Hannibal after the interval. Again, Bruno Fernandes is still vacationing.
Competition on the wings will be fierce with all United’s first team squad options except Alejandro Garnacho available. This means Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Amad Diallo and Antony will all likely play 45 minutes apiece. We’ve gone for Rashford and Amad to start but it’s something of a lottery.
Up front, Rasmus Hojlund returns after a disappointing Euro 24. With new signing Josh Zirkzee still on holiday, Hojlund will likely be replaced by youngster Ethan Wheatley at half time.
With all that said, here is our predicted XI for the 1am BST kick-off:
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