Man Utd’s predicted XI vs. Sabah for long-awaited Champions League return
Manchester United are back in the Champions League, and they kick off their campaign against Azerbaijani side Sabah. Here’s our best guess at the XI that Michael Carrick will select.
Yes, it’s a Thursday evening. Yes, it’s against a side we’d never heard of a couple of months ago. It might be an anticlimax, but don’t be fooled. This is still Europe’s premier club competition.
Surprisingly enough with the club’s travails since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, this ends their longest drought without top-tier European football since the early 90s and Mark Hughes and Brian McClair in the Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Cup. A lot has changed since they were last in it.
Andre Onana is currently out on loan at Trabzonspor, which tells you a thing about the trajectory of his career, with replacement No.1 Senne Lammens set to make only his second Champions League appearance following Royal Antwerp’s 2-0 defeat away at Porto back in November 2023.
The defensive ranks haven’t actually changed all that much, however, with Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot all remaining from the trenches of the Erik ten Hag era and likely to start once more here. Lisandro Martinez ought to replace the retired Raphael Varane, but otherwise it could be three of the same back four that started the Red Devils’ last outing on this stage – a 1-0 group stage defeat at home to Bayern Munich in December 2023.
All change further forward, though. Summer signing Youri Tielemans looks set to start at the base of midfield alongside Carrick favourite Kobbie Mainoo, with club captain and creative talisman Bruno Fernandes pulling the strings behind a front three of Bryan Mbeumo, Marcus Rashford and Matheus Cunha.
That would be something resembling Carrick’s favoured first-choice XI, which you’d imagine that he’ll want to go with even against relative outsiders as he looks to make his mark and set a positive tone as United get to grips with the expanded league phase format for the first time.
Rotations ahead of Sunday’s big Manchester derby, in which Man City have two extra days of rest and preparation, may enter Carrick’s thinking – but he was giving relatively little away in his pre-match press conference.
“I’m not concerned,” Carrick said of the tight turnaround between fixtures.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s not something we can do much about. We’ve got to deal with the cards we were dealt.”
Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui, Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro represent options for a switched-up backline, while Matthijs De Ligt has recently returned to training and could potentially be eased back to action from the bench.
Mason Mount and Andrey Santos could feature in midfield if Carrick decides to shuffle his pack, while Benjamin Sesko – fresh from scoring off the bench at the weekend – is pushing for his first start of the season.
“Yeah he’s close, he missed a lot but we’ve had to manage him and get him fit,” Carrick told reporters.
“He scored a fantastic goal, he did an awful lot for us last season, and he’s in a good place. It’s just a case of when he takes that next step.”
Manuel Ugarte is a long-term injury absentee, Amad Diallo isn’t available, and recent addition Carlos Baleba is not yet in line to make his debut as he remains on the comeback trail.
Here’s our best guess at how Manchester United will line up against Sabah.
Man Utd predicted XI vs Sabah
GK: Senne Lammens
RB: Diogo Dalot
CB: Harry Maguire
CB: Lisandro Martinez
LB: Luke Shaw
CM: Youri Tielemans
CM: Kobbie Mainoo
RW: Bryan Mbeumo
CAM: Bruno Fernandes
LW: Marcus Rashford
ST: Matheus Cunha
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