Mazraoui out, Maguire stays and ‘special’ Red returns: Predicted Man Utd starting lineup to face Spurs

Our predicted Manchester United starting line-up for this evening’s Carabao Cup quarter-final away to Tottenham Hotspur.

A spot in the League Cup semi-finals is up for grabs for Ruben Amorim and his men if they can overturn the North London outfit on their home turf tonight. Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United all advanced on Wednesday evening.

United enter the tie on the back of an emphatic derby day triumph at the Etihad, whereas Spurs hit Southampton for five goals in only 45 minutes on Sunday, meaning Ange Postecoglou was able to tell his side to take their feet off the gas in the second half. 

The last time the clubs met was at Old Trafford in late September. United were comfortably overturned 3-0 in the Premier League contest, at the time adding more pressure onto Erik ten Hag’s shoulders.

It’s Amorim in the dugout now, though, so fans will already feel slightly more optimistic heading into the tie, given the noticeably positive changes across the XI since he took the reins.

In terms of the options he’ll have at his disposal for the 8pm kick-off, he confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Mason Mount would be unavailable after being withdrawn inside 15 minutes against Manchester City. Noussair Mazraoui was also spotted limping when leaving the away dressing room and is consequently a doubt to feature tonight.

Luke Shaw remains sidelined – as is usually the case.

Alejandro Garnacho is expected to be restored to the matchday squad following his omission over the weekend. However, Marcus Rashford, who was also absent, was not spotted travelling down to London with the squad – though one report did confirm that he was sent home from training mid-week with a temperature.

Predicted United starting XI vs Spurs

Onana;

Yoro, Maguire, Martinez;

Amorim poured praise onto Harry Maguire following his stellar display in the derby, claiming that he was ‘perfect’ when playing his part in a back-three.

He also hailed Leny Yoro as a ‘special talent’ when he was making his return to injury, and the 19-year-old is now being given chances here and there to continue building up his fitness.

Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Malacia;

Kobbie Mainoo’s five-star display vs City slipped under the radar due to Amad Diallo’s late heroics, but he replaced Mount and didn’t put a foot wrong in midfield for his 76 minutes on the pitch.

Amad, Fernandes;

Speaks for itself.

Hojlund

Five of Rasmus Hojlund’s seven goals for the season have come under Amorim alone. He has made six appearances, with only four coming from the off.