Michael Carrick has all but confirmed nine starters for Manchester United's Premier League opener against Hull, which is now just six days away, after fielding a near full-strength side in Saturday's final pre-season friendly against AC Milan in Wroclaw.
Carrick made several changes for the Leeds friendly in Dublin, starting two academy players, but he went full strength against Milan, almost mirroring the team he is expected to select for the Hull clash.
Defence and goalkeeper settled
Senne Lammens is nailed on to start in goal. He made a brilliant point-blank save to deny Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the first half against Milan and looks primed for another season as the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper.
Ayden Heaven was given the nod to start alongside Harry Maguire in central defence. Heaven has played a prominent role in pre-season and looks set to start over Leny Yoro, who has occasionally played as a right-back. The presumption heading into pre-season was that Yoro would be one of the first names on the team sheet, but Heaven looks to be in pole position.
Lisandro Martinez, who was introduced at the hour mark against Milan, will be eased back into the team after reporting late to pre-season due to making the World Cup final with Argentina. The reason why Martinez will not start against Hull was laid bare when Milan scored their fourth goal: he was pulled out of position, caught on his heels, and could not recover as Loftus-Cheek burst forward. He understandably looked rusty.
Luke Shaw is guaranteed to start at left-back, but the right-back spot, one of two positions that appear undecided, may go down to who shows more in training at Carrington in the build-up to the game. Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot returned for pre-season at the same time. There is not much between them in terms of fitness, but Carrick started the latter against Milan, perhaps an indicator that he will start against Hull next weekend.
Midfield and attack taking shape
The other undecided spot is the third midfield role alongside Bruno Fernandes and Andrey Santos. Mason Mount was the favourite for that starting role, but a small niggle kept him out against Leeds and Milan, handing the momentum to Youri Tielemans. Tielemans showed what he can offer in Wroclaw, quickly forming a relationship with Fernandes. He was denied a likely assist in the first half when he played a line-breaking pass, only for the offside flag to be raised.
It would be harsh for Mount to be named on the bench against Hull, provided he's available, given he was the standout performer of pre-season before his small knock, but perhaps Tielemans has the advantage now.
Amad and Dorgu played on the right and left wings respectively against Milan, and they are shoo-ins to play in those roles next weekend. Matheus Cunha started the game down the middle, but he's not close to peak fitness, unlike Bryan Mbeumo, who has been excellent in that role all summer. Mbeumo was merely rested against Milan. He's as good as guaranteed to start up front against Hull considering Cunha is still working up his match fitness, and Benjamin Sesko has not played a single minute in pre-season due to a shin injury.
The close-to-confirmed nine starters vs Hull: Lammens, Heaven, Maguire, Shaw, Santos, Fernandes, Amad, Mbeumo, Dorgu.
