On Sunday, Manchester United travel to Aston Villa for what could be the deciding game for Erik Ten Hag’s future. The Reds are coming off a disastrous week that included a 3-0 home loss to Tottenham and a 3-3 draw at Porto in the Europa League.
With such a pivotal match ahead for Ten Hag, who will the Dutch manager select to potentially save his job?
Club captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off twice in the same week while having no impact on the attack. Ten Hag must seriously contemplate sitting Fernandes, especially considering Christian Eriksen’s recent impact. Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo rested midweek and will be fresh for Sunday’s fixture.
Rasmus Hojlund logged his first start of the season and marked it with a goal at Porto, showing he can be a difference-maker when healthy. Another goalscorer in that match, Marcus Rashford, should retain his spot in the eleven, as he has been United’s best attacker in recent weeks.
Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, and Diogo Dalot formed a dysfunctional back four against Porto, with De Ligt especially struggling to handle Samu Omorodion. Mazraoui, Martinez, and Dalot should all retain their spots, but Harry Maguire, who scored the late equalizer for United, could start in place of out-of-form De Ligt.
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Here is the projected starting eleven for United at Villa:
Goalkeeper: Andre Onana
Defenders: Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot
Midfielders: Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo, Christian Eriksen
Attackers: Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho
Can Manchester United finally reach double-digit points with a win over Aston Villa ahead of the international break?
United Beyond Manchester 
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