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Manchester United could kick off their 2024/25 Premier League campaign with three debutants in their starting line-up.
Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui are currently undergoing medicals ahead of their transfers from Bayern Munich, while Joshua Zirkzee was signed from Bologna earlier in the summer.
Zirkzee was expected to get some minutes against Manchester City in the Community Shield on Saturday but manager Erik ten Hag did not risk him, believing his fitness levels to be behind those of his teammates.
As relayed here earlier, neither Mazraoui nor De Ligt have had much of a pre-season either, so normally it would be unlikely that any of the three would start the game against the Cottagers.
However, with all defenders except Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez and Jonny Evans either unavailable or doubtful, it is possible that the two incoming stars will be pressed into action ahead of schedule.
Up front, United missed a number of chances against City and Ten Hag will consider what could have been, had he had a specialist striker in the lineup.
Amad Diallo was explosive on Saturday and Alejandro Garnacho was unplayable when he came on as substitute. The prospect of those two providing chances for Zirkzee, with Bruno Fernandes in the hole, makes for a mouthwatering prospect.
If Zirkzee gets some behind-closed-doors action between now and Friday, there is an outside chance that he might get thrown in at the deep end.
De Ligt could join Lisandro Martinez in an all-Ajax graduate centre-back partnership, with Dalot and Mazraoui occupying the full back berths.
Andre Onana in goal and Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro in midfield would complete the potential line-up.
What is striking about this possible XI is that it only contains two players – Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes – from the last line-up before Ten Hag took control of the team. It is certainly safe to say that this is now very much a Ten Hag squad.
Another encouraging element is the amount of talent that could be on the bench.
Euro 24 star Altay Bayindir, Evans, Christian Eriksen, Scott McTominay, Toby Collyer, Antony, Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho would all be backup.
With Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Rasmus Hojlund all on the road to recovery, Ineos’ first United squad is shaping up to look pretty solid in all departments.
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