Here’s our best guess at the Man United starting XI versus Club Brugge XV in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Playoff Wednesday night. Yes, we’re making this prediction a bit early but here is the lineup that we think Louis van Gaal will going with as the European tournament shifts to Jan Breydel Stadion in Belgium this week:
Wayne Rooney
Memphis Depay Juan Mata Adnan Januzaj
Morgan Schneiderlin Bastian Schweinsteiger
Luke Shaw Daley Blind Chris Smalling Matteo Darmian
Sergio Romero
Schweinsteiger replaced Carrick versus Newcastle, so we keep him in this line-up here. Januzaj scored in that surprise start versus Aston Villa, and he has the only goal scored by a United player thus far this season. Hence he stays in the line-up. Memphis had two goals, and really should have had a hat trick in the first leg. He’s much more effective on the left than down the middle, so Van Gaal should keep him there.
I didn’t really want to keep Rooney in the Man United starting XI for this one, but I see no reason to believe Van Gaal will drop him at this point. And to be fair you have to give the Captain a chance to play his way out of the scoring drought. People are overreacting. He’ll eventually be alright again.
How do you think this Man United starting XI will perform? Do you have a potential line-up that you think would work better? Do you think the Red Devils will emerge victorious, suffer a defeat, or end up in a draw? As always, let your thoughts be known in the comments section below.
Also, you’ll want to check out his video below from Sports Illustrated. It spotlights the most likely favorites for the 2015-16 Champions League competition.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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