Manchester United are getting ready to face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, with Erik ten Hag’s men looking for a third straight win in the Premier League.
United could pull away from the chasing pack and leapfrog Newcastle United in the table with a victory, having seen the Magpies and Tottenham Hotspur both lose over the weekend.
Ahead of the game, Ten Hag has been dealt a number of heavy blows, however. Marcus Rashford was ruled out last week and centre-back pairing Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have both been sidelined for a lengthy period after they were withdrawn against Sevilla earlier this week.
As expected, none of them feature in the squad against Forest but both of the club’s senior left-backs are also missing, meaning Diogo Dalot has slotted in at left-back.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Ten Hag commented on the thinking behind his team selection.
Quizzed on the thinking behind his team selection, Ten Hag told the BBC, via the Manchester Evening News: “We are in the position we want to be in, not many clubs in Europe are still fighting for three trophies. The title is gone but [reaching] the Champions League is the aim and also a trophy.
“Points get more expensive and you have to fight for it like against Brentford and Everton. We were maybe only good for 55 minutes against Sevilla and then you get hammered. We have to act as machines.
“They [Lindelof and Maguire] have the rhythm, they play together often and have the experience. They have to show they are in this team. I have four really good centre-halves, now it is up to them.
“For us every game is big – FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Europa League, every game. That is the approach, he [Martial] is happy he is on the pitch. We need all 11 players with a performance, a team performance and when we do that we have a good chance to win the game.”
Tyrell Malacia is believed to be missing the game with a sore knee after the Dutchman played 90 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Sevilla earlier this week.
