Manchester United are in Premier League action on Wednesday night against Newcastle in the penultimate game this season.
After losing to Arsenal this past weekend, it’s two wins in 11 Premier League games for Manchester United, something which has crept under the radar but is absolutely atrocious.
Erik ten Hag‘s job is far from secure and he only has two league games and an FA Cup final to save himself.
That being said, the defeat to Arsenal was much better than we’ve become accustomed to, performance-wise, at United with the structure and set-up actually resembling a football team.
Arsenal only scored through poor defending by Casemiro, so the expectation is Ten Hag builds on this performance, against Newcastle this Wednesday.
So without further ado, here is our penultimate Premier League predicted XI of the season.
Manchester United team news
A loss to Newcastle guarantees that the Magpies finish above United this season as United sit eighth and three points adrift of seventh and sixth – with the goal difference being embarrassingly different.
Therefore, it’s unlikely that we suddenly see United turn it around and finish higher, so the focus needs to be on avoiding dropping to ninth.
This however won’t be made easy as selection troubles look likely to persist, although have slightly eased.
Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Willy Kambwala are all potentially ready, as confirmed by Ten Hag. While Lisandro Martinez should be on the bench.
How will Manchester United line up vs Newcastle?
From those he has to select from, we imagine that Ten Hag won’t change too much from the half-decent display against Arsenal.
But one position which definitely won’t change is goalkeeper, with Andre Onana nailed on to start again after Gary Neville has backed him to improve next season.
In the fullback positions it’s likely to once again see Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot starting although the side of each seems to alternate weekly.
Central defence could see the return of Kambwala, alongside Jonny Evans whose future this summer is still up in the air.
In midfield, we can see Kobbie Mainoo being rested and Casemiro and Sofyan Amrabat starting in what is a fairly defensive pivot duo.
Ahead of these two, Fernandes makes his long-awaited return to the side after nearly making the Arsenal game, as Scott McTominay drops to the bench.
Amad Diallo‘s performance against Arsenal has earned him the chance to start once again here against Newcastle, while Alejandro Garnacho starts on the left.
Up top, Rasmus Hojlund will be looking to add to his goal tally and reach 15 for the season.
