Date: Thursday 30th December, 2021
Time: 9:15 pm
Stadium Old Trafford
Referee Jonathan Moss (England)
Goal Scorer:
Team News
Manchester United
Victor Lindelof is ruled out for the home team after contracting coronavirus. Paul Pogba remains unavailable with an injury while Bruno Fernandes is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Newcastle United. Other than that, manager Ralf Rangnick has a full set of players available at his disposal.
Given the quick turnaround between the fixtures, Rangnick is expected to make a few tweaks to the team that underwhelmed on Monday against Newcastle. However, no change is expected between the sticks, with David de Gea, who was top-notch earlier in the week, set to continue.
The defensive line, however, could see multiple alterations. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Alex Telles are in line to return to the XI in the full-back slots. Eric Bailly, who the club recalled after he had left to join Ivory Coast for the AFCON, is likely to start in place of Raphael Varane, who recently returned from injury. Harry Maguire should hold on to his place in the side.
Scott McTominay seemed to have picked up an injury against Newcastle but is expected to shake it off and feature against Burnley. However, he is likely to have a new partner in the form of Nemanja Matic, who will be replacing Fred after the Brazilian was hooked at half-time against the Magpies.
With Fernandes ruled out, it paves the way for Donny van de Beek to start as one of the two attacking midfielders, with Jadon Sancho likely to partner him on the night. Up top, both Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo are expected to be benched, with Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood in line for starts as the two centre-forwards in Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2.
Probable Lineup (4-2-2-2): de Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Matic; van de Beek, Sancho; Greenwood, Cavani
Burnley
Burnley will be without the services of Connor Roberts and Ashley Barnes, who are still some way away from mounting a full recovery. Dale Stephens is back in training after recovering from coronavirus and could be in contention. However, summer signing Maxwel Cornet is a touch-and-go for this crucial clash for Sean Dyche’s side.
The visitors will set up in their usual 4-4-2 formation, with the focus being on defensive discipline and organisation. They will look to hurt Manchester United on the break and exploit their weakness against defending set-piece situations. Nick Pope is the undisputed starter between the sticks for Burnley, while Matthew Lowton, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee and Charlie Taylor form the four-person backline.
Ashley Westwood and Josh Brownhill will form the midfield pivot to provide added security to the backline. Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Dwight McNeil will slot in out wide and act as the primary attacking outlets, with the onus to supply crosses to the strikers being on them.
Up top, Chris Wood is a certain starter for the Clarets. With Barnes unavailable, he could be paired up with Matej Vydra, while Jay Rodriguez would be an option from the bench.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Gudmundsson, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil; Vydra, Wood
Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Burnley
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