Ten Hag drops late Palace line-up hint that will please supporters with ‘outstanding’ Red poised to start

Manchester United take to Selhurst Park this evening in hopes of claiming a much-needed three points – as well as making amends for last season’s 4-0 humiliation.

The United faithful have spent the last four days pondering which 11 Erik ten Hag will choose to field tonight after he deployed a heavily-rotated side against Barnsley midweek, which was able to see out a 7-0 thrashing.

Prior to the Carabao Cup tie, the Red Devils earned their second victory of the Premier League campaign by overturning Southampton 3-0 away from home last Saturday. 

Judging by each of the forward’s stellar showings in the past week, Ten Hag will undoubtedly have a headache when it comes to the roles Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo and Aleandro Garnacho will play. They could, on paper, form a front three with the Englishman operating at No.9, but it’s no secret that all of their preferred positions lie on the wing. 

Things may be slightly easier for the manager in the middle of the park, though. After utilising Christian Eriksen alongside Kobbie Mainoo vs the Saints, Ten Hag then called upon Manuel Ugarte to make his first start on Tuesday, seemingly testing the waters to see how the summer recruit would fare from the off. 

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He then all but confirmed last night that the ‘outstanding’ 23-year-old is ready to start matches after being eased into the action due to his lack of pre-season training.

Ten Hag ready to award Ugarte maiden PL start

“He’s a player very short in [number of] sessions. Now, he has a start in him,” Ten Hag told reporters in his pre-Crystal Palace press conference, as cited by club media. “In Southampton, he came in as a sub. Yeah, still, he’s in the process that he has come into the club. 

“He has to come into the team and know what is the game, what are the principles, what are the rules, and know his team-mates. So, especially, know with his profile what he can contribute to his team. So yeah, we are in that process, and that will take some time, but it will come. It will come in a natural way. And you can already see when he is fulfilling the process, he will really be a very good player for us.”