Manchester United get their Europa League campaign underway tonight as they travel to Rotterdam to face Dutch side Feyenoord.
Coming off of the back of a sobering defeat to Manchester City is not the kind of preparation Jose Mourinho would have wanted so he’ll be looking for his team to bounce back quickly in his first European game in charge of the Red Devils.
After that game, a number of players came in for criticism for poor performances. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard came off at half-time after seemingly freezing during the first half whilst Paul Pogba and Wayne Rooney didn’t escape the scrutiny of some.
This in mind, Mourinho is expected to ring the changes for their opening Europa League game and may be hoping that some that play tonight perform at a level to get themselves into contention to start in the Premier League this Sunday.
This game could prove a real marking point in Mourinho’s squad management and we think these three need to step up tonight and stake their claim…
Marcus Rashford
Rashford is once again catching everyone’s attention. He scored the winner against Hull and bagged a hat-trick on his England U21 debut causing the clamour for him to be more and more involved in the United to increase significantly. A good performance here may just secure him a start on Sunday too and with the way he plays, you really can’t rule him out from putting in such a shift. He’s absolutely fearless and United need that.
Chris Smalling
Smalling has the chance to oust Daley Blind from the side. He was United’s best defender last season but has so far found playing time hard to come by in this campaign. The Dutchman Blind had a bit of a shocker against City last time out, being at fault for City’s first goal especially, so now could be Smalling’s moment to reclaim his place and forge a partnership with Eric Bailly at the back that many are excited to see develop.
Ander Herrera
Mourinho brought Herrera on for the second half of the derby as he tried to get United back into the game and it worked fairly well, albeit with the Red Devils not being able to find the net. The Spaniard allowed Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini to operate further up the pitch and this gave the team a more advanced base to play from. He should start tonight against the Dutch side and with an assured showing expect him to be in contention for the weekend.
