Man Utd outcast who was ‘ignored’ by Ten Hag drops huge hint he’s being granted rare start in Cup tie vs Spurs

Albeit still a quarter-final, you can expect Ruben Amorim will use tonight’s Carabao Cup tie to rotate his XI from that of Sunday’s Manchester derby triumph.

Manchester United have travelled down South to undergo their final preparations ahead of this evening’s 8pm kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Amorim is already confirmed to be without Mason Mount and Luke Shaw – it’s rarer that the two are actually involved in the matchday squad nowadays. Noussair Mazraoui is a doubt after he was spotted limping out of the away dressing room at the Etihad, while Marcus Rashford was not spotted making the trip with his teammates, having been sent home from training earlier this week with a temperature.

On the mornings of games, fans can sometimes decipher which Reds are likely to be involved if they share posts about the match on social media, especially if they only do so when included in the team.

Altay Bayindir to make rare start in Carabao Cup quarter-final

Today, Altay Bayindir posted a video showcasing the details of the cup contest to his Instagram story, perhaps suggesting he’ll be granted a rare start.

The last time he did so was in the fourth round of the competition under Ruud van Nistelrooy, while he was also given the nod in the third round 7-0 win over Barnsley under Erik ten Hag, who reportedly ‘ignored’ the Turkish shot-stopper in his first fortnight at the club.

Should Bayindir be deployed from the off, it’ll mark just his fourth appearance since he signed for United in 2023. He arrived knowing he would be playing second-fiddle, but even still, he likely imagined he’d feature slightly more than he has done during his Old Trafford tenure.

Alas, it came as no surprise when Sky Sports’ Florian Plettenberg claimed last month that the 26-year-old was expected to seal a transfer away in one of the next two windows, with it being acknowledged that he is ‘simply too good’ to spend his career watching on from the substitutes’ bench.