Harry Maguire returns to Manchester United’s starting lineup for this afternoon’s Premier League clash against West Ham United.
Harry Maguire has returned to Manchester United’s starting lineup for this afternoon’s Premier League clash against West Ham United at Old Trafford.
The central defender is named in the first XI for the first time since December 12 and replaces Raphael Varane, who drops down to the substitutes’ bench.
Maguire will be partnered in the heart of the defence by Lisandro Martinez, who has passed a late fitness test to retain his place in Erik ten Hag’s starting lineup.
Ten Hag’s decision to recall Maguire is the only change made to the side that began the 4-3 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday, with Maguire and Martinez joined in the back four by Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw.
Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo will link arms again in centre-midfield, while Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford are joined in the final third by striker Rasmus Hojlund.
Ten Hag’s bench is strengthened by the return of midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, whose time with Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations has come to an end, and defender Victor Lindelof who has recovered from injury.
As for West Ham, David Moyes has made just two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Bournemouth on Thursday, with Vladimir Coufal and Nayef Aguerd coming in for Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kalvin Phillips.
Coufal returns after serving a one-match ban, while Aguerd also makes a comeback following Morocco’s elimination at AFCON; both players are set to be joined in a back five along with Ben Johnson, Kurt Zouma and Emerson Palmieri.
Moyes’s decision to bench Phillips means a three-man midfield off Edson Alvarez, Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse is set to line up behind attacking duo Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, who both scored in the 2-0 win over Man United at the London Stadium just over a month ago.
Manchester United: Onana; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund
Subs: Bayindir, Lindelof, Varane, Amrabat, Eriksen, McTominay, Amad, Antony, Forson
West Ham United: Areola; Coufal, Johnson, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Alvarez, Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Bowen
Subs: Fabianski, Cresswell, Phillips, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Ings, Cornet, Mubama, Scarles
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