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Amid strong reports that tomorrow will be Erik ten Hag’s last day in charge of Manchester United, the Dutchman could be planning a big surprise or two for the FA Cup final.
Despite the BBC’s Simon Stone claiming no decision has yet been made on Ten Hag’s future, transfer guru Gianluca Di Marzio, The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg and Viaplay TV pundit Jan Aage Fjortoft claim INEOS have decided to sack the manager regardless of tomorrow’s outcome , and that he was informed of their decision some time ago.
If that’s true, in a sense it means he’ll have nothing to lose when picking his line-up for tomorrow’s game and it will be a one-off for him. He doesn’t need to worry about the injuries, bruised egos and confidence levels of the players he selects because he wouldn’t be there to deal with any problems once the pre-season starts.
Of course, at the end of the day Ten Haag will want to go out on a high and will pick what he thinks is his strongest XI.
That of course means Andre Onana in goal and Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka at full-back.
Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are still injured and out of contention.
At centre-back, the dream pairing of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez is available. Martinez looks certain to start, the question is whether Varane will get the nod after just 20 minutes against Brighton. We think he will, which will be his last game for United.
Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans are other options, but Harry Maguire has not recovered from injury in time.
Casemiro could also continue to fill in at centre-back or return to central midfield. However, a report from The Athletic this evening suggested that Ten Hag are considering dropping him and a number of training sessions have been held without him in the XI.
We can only assume that the unconvincing Sofyan Amrabat will continue in the holding role and Kobbie Mainoo will be allowed to roam in front of him.
Mason Mount is fit again and Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen are other options.
Up front, despite Amado Diallo’s excellent form of late, we predict a surprise inclusion of Marcus Rashford on the left wing, with Alejandro Garnacho going on the right. Ten Hag may find the opportunity too big for the Ivorian and give Rashford a big stage to silence his critics and end the season on a high note.
Antony can also be considered.
Bruno Fernandes will certainly start in the number 10 role, with Rasmus Hojlund up front.
Anthony Martial is fit again but does not appear to have been included in the squad. He appears to have played his last game for United.
With all that in mind, here’s our predicted XI for the FA Cup Final:
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