Erik ten Hag has explained his changes to the starting line-up as Manchester United undergo their final preparations to face Crystal Palace.
Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund all returned to the fold after a well-deserved rest for the trio midweek, though the latter did make a short cameo towards the end of the Carabao Cup tie.
Hannibal Mejbri has impressed the manager and the Old Trafford faithful in recent games, having netted his debut goal and then started two consecutive matches. The Tunisian has, however, dropped to the bench today, as the manager has opted to deploy Casemiro, Mason Mount and Fernandes in midfield.
Ten Hag on his team selection
Regarding the youngster’s omission from the starting XI, Ten Hag told MUTV: “Three games in a row when you don’t play so often is not easy and especially when one of your skilsets is your energy. That’s what he brought a lot of in the last two games, a lot of energy, in offensive and also defensive parts of the game. I am really happy with his performances to the team.”
He added: “I think our players fitness-wise have a foundation, but now they must get that sharpness in, to get even fitter. But also we want to get a routine in the team and that is not always easy when you have as many injuries as we have. Nevertheless, we have to work on that.”
Kick-off is fast approaching at Old Trafford and United will be keen to oversee a replicate of Tuesday’s performance, when they convincingly won 3-0 and kept a hard-fought clean sheet on home turf.
