Erik ten Hag has already hinted at a line-up reshuffle for Manchester United’s trip to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday.
The Red Devils are on the back of a 4-2 victory over League Two outfit Newport County, marking their return to action after two weeks by booking their spot in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Now, the squad have switched their focus back to the Premier League as they look to try and close the gap on a top-four spot; United currently sit 11 points off of Aston Villa in fourth.
While they were granted a winter break to get some respite from a tumultuous first half of the term, it’s now a quick turnaround in fixtures for Ten Hag’s men. The Wolves clash falls just three days prior to a home contest with West Ham United, who overturned the Reds 2-0 at London Stadium before Christmas.
Onana to return to starting XI at Molineux
Altay Bayindir made his debut on Sunday due to Andre Onana’s extended absence to partake in the Africa Cup of Nations, however, Cameroon’s last-16 exit – which he was benched for – means that the first-choice goalkeeper will be back at Ten Hag’s disposal for the forthcoming matches.
“I think it was a composed debut [by Bayindir],” Ten Hag expressed in his post-Newport interview, as cited by ManUtd.com. “Some good saves, so very composed. I think, overall, he can be happy. I was pleased with his performance.
“Andre Onana will be back for Thursday. Maybe, for the first time as long as I was manager, I can pick a team from the squad that is probably the strongest here.”
I’d be very happy to see Bayindir get another run out. He looks much more mobile and agile than Onana. His positioning was good, he was alert to danger for the full 90mins and I really enjoyed his distribution, throwing the ball out quickly and accurately. Nice. Let’s see if he can do it in the PL.