Manchester United host Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday.
The Red Devils have had a tough start to the Premier League campaign, picking up only four points from as many matches. They are currently 13th in the table, eight points behind leaders Arsenal.
Michael Carrick’s role as manager remains relatively safe, but the 45-year-old needs to turn around the club’s fortunes soon or his position could come under scrutiny.
United will be in action against Brighton in the Carabao Cup in midweek, and it could be another testing challenge, given the Seagulls have been free-scoring this term.
The South Coast outfit have already netted 17 goals in six matches and have a good record at Old Trafford, picking up four victories in the last five trips to the stadium.
Hence, the Red Devils have to play at their best on Wednesday to progress.
Carrick should name a strong XI for the game, and we expect only a couple of changes to the starting line-up from the 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the league on Sunday.
The first change could come in the left-back position. Dorgu made his first start as a left-back in the league for United against Man City, and had a forgettable 90 minutes.
The Dane gifted possession in the lead-up to Erling Haaland’s controversial goal. To make things worse, he also played the striker onside after his touch on Josko Gvardiol’s resultant cross.
Dorgu lost 42 percent of his duels against the Cityzens yesterday. He was also dribbled past twice and committed three fouls. In our view, the £25 million signing should make way from the XI.
Luke Shaw has been out of action for the last two matches with an injury concern. We don’t see United taking a risk with him, and Noussair Mazraoui should be a frontrunner to start at left-back.
Mazraoui starred from the position for Morocco at the World Cup during the summer. The 28-year-old produced one of his best performances against a star-studded Brazilian outfit (1-1 draw).
He proved that he can comfortably play there and should start over Dorgu if Shaw is sidelined.
The other change should come upfront with Matheus Cunha dropping out for Benjamin Sesko.
Cunha struggled to impose himself as the main striker against the Cityzens to start with. The Brazilian star is not a natural as a number nine and looks more comfortable operating as a left-sided attacker.
Marcus Rashford was one of United’s best players against Man City and came close to scoring, only for the woodwork to deny him. We would personally prefer to start him over Cunha on the left wing.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Sesko has been in good form since his injury comeback with two goals in just 140 minutes. The Slovenian should get his second start of the campaign upfront against Brighton.
Stats from Sofascore.com