Manchester United are set to welcome Cypriot side Omonia to Old Trafford this evening as they aim to make it three wins in a row in the Europa League.
Victory over the group minnows would all but confirm United’s passage to the next round of games but Erik ten Hag will be desperate to finish first in the group and avoid two round-of-32 games.
Ahead of Thursday’s clash with Omonia, supporters have been debating over whether Ten Hag could rotate his squad due to United’s growing list of fixtures.
That was, however, not the case as Ten Hag named a near-full strength side at Old Trafford, with only Christian Eriksen rested for certain.
Ten Hag has now revealed the thinking behind his selection, admitting that he would like to maintain the momentum within the side following two consecutive wins.
“I want to keep the construction in the team,” Ten Hag told BT Sport, via the official Manchester United website.
“When you make too many changes, then, often, the routines go down and I want to avoid that. I want to keep the good constructions on the pitch but also, a little bit, rotate.”
SN’s verdict…
It may have been tempting for Ten Hag to rotate his squad but as he points out, it might be wise to stick with the same players as they are still learning his system and rules.
United are making progress and their five wins out of their last six Premier League games show that. The defeat at Manchester City was damaging but Ten Hag may look at that and think that he does not have time to rotate.