Manchester United predicted line-up vs. Galatasaray - £47m defender out as under-fire stars start

Manchester United’s frustrating 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday is hardly ideal preparation for what has become a must-win match in the Champions League on Tuesday evening when the Red Devils host Galatasaray in their second group stage game.

A 4-3 defeat away to Bayern Munich a fortnight ago means another negative result would put United perilously close to an early exit, so Erik ten Hag will certainly be playing his strongest possible side – but with injuries still dogging his defence and uncertainty over the best attacking line-up, the Dutchman will still be operating under severely reduced circumstances.

Let’s take a look at all the latest team news and injury updates as a depleted United prepare for their crunch clash against a side who have yet to taste defeat so far this season in either the Turkish Super Lig or in European competition – they drew their opener against FC København 2-2 after late goals from Sacha Boey and former Leicester City loanee Tetê.

Goalkeeper & Defence

United’s desperate injury predicament in defence hasn’t eased at all after the news the Lisandro Martínez has aggravated the foot injury he had been carrying since before the international break and will now be out for around two months. He joins Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tyrell Malacia and Tom Heaton on the sidelines, none of whom will be back in action any time soon.

The good news is that loanee left-back Sergio Reguilón is close to a return following an illness which has kept him out of the team for the past three matches, although as he hasn’t trained fully for a fortnight or so it’s more than likely that Sofyan Amrabat will continue in his role as a makeshift left-back.

Midfield

Manchester United are at least closer to a clean bill of health in midfield after the return of Mason Mount and Christian Eriksen’s recovery from illness. Kobbie Mainoo remains a long-term absentee but Ten Hag will otherwise have a full-strength midfield to chose from.

Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek was given some rare minutes against Palace on Saturday but all signs point to United starting the game with Casemiro, Mount and Bruno Fernandes operating as the central three for the game against Galatasaray.

Forwards

Antony has been allowed to return to training and been made available for what would be a controversial selection by the club after he returned to England after speaking to police in Brazil about allegations of assault, but the winger is highly unlikely to play in midweek as he rebuilds match fitness.

That means that either Facundo Pellistri, who got the nod to start against Palace, or Alejandro Garnacho, we replaced the Uruguayan in the second half, will most likely be in the starting eleven alongside Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Højlund. Amad Diallo remains out with a knee injury, but the youngster is back in the gym at least as he continues his road to recovery.

Full Man Utd predicted line-up vs. Galatasaray

Onana; Amrabat, Lindelöf, Varane, Dalot; Casemiro, Mount, Fernandes; Rashford, Højlund, Pellistri.