Key events
Whatever the injury situation, it is a sad situation for United fans to have Casemiro and Evans in the center of defense. Ten Hag has spent more than 400 million pounds since he arrived, and this team has cost 1.2 billion pounds…
Interesting comments from Ten Hag. It is unclear who will lead the line for manchester united Tonight, probably Bruno Fernandes as a false nine. The Portuguese missed the defeats against Crystal Palace and Arsenal, remember.
Marcus Rashford has not played since the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry on April 21 and will be on the bench tonight. Lisandro Martínez is also in the reserve, the Argentine has only played one game since February 4. It was a big mistake and it is part of the reason why Casemiro is back with Evans tonight as a central defender. I must say I'm surprised to see the Brazilian back there after the disaster against Arsenal. Isak, Gordon and Murphy will be licking their lips.
Erik ten Hag speaks:
You've seen, the last few games we have homegrown players on the bench. Now we have players who can make a difference if they come in. They want to fight for this club.
About Hojlund resting
We want to keep it fresh. It's a long season for young players. We've got Brighton, we've got a cup final.
Who will play up front?
You will see. Anything is possible (she says shyly with a smile)
About Casemiro starting at center back.
He played some good games, some failures. Obviously in the last game (against Arsenal) there was a bad moment. We know he can do the job, so he has to do it.
The teams!
Manchester United: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Evans, Dalot, Mainoo, Amrabat, Diallo, McTominay, Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Martínez, Rashford, Hojlund, Eriksen, Antony, Kambwala, Forson, Collyer.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Trippier, Krafth, Burn, Hall, Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Anderson, Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Substitutes: Dummett, Schar, Joelinton, Ritchie, Barnes, Pope, Almirón, White, Alex Murphy.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside)
Preamble
What a funny situation. Neither manchester united (8th) nor Newcastle (6th) can reach the top four. It is suspected that both would like to be in the Europa League (in which they need to finish fifth or sixth) – with the shiny prizes of European titles and qualification for the Champions League for next season's victors – but a place in the Conference League (7th) is probably too complicated. There's not much greatness in Europe's third-tier competition, not even for the two United States, and there's a good chance that a superfluous European campaign could (more?!) derail next season's Premier League campaign season. Newcastle will guarantee some form of European football with a win tonight. If Manchester United fail to win, they will almost certainly be out of contention for any European qualification.
But How the Spurs learned last nightInstead of trying to maneuver between the many permutations that may or may not be in your hands, the best move is to simply try to win all your games, see what happens, and live with the hand you're dealt.
Erik ten Hag is walking a very fine line indeedand you need all the good PR you can get. A Reds win tonight would certainly help.
So, there's not much at stake tonight, apart from European qualification and potentially someone's job, but I'm glad you're here anyway.
Kick off: 7 pm eastern time.
