Manchester United will be hoping to book their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup when they host West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday. Here is the side van Gaal could pick:
Goalkeeper: David de Gea is certain keep his place in goal after another excellent performance against Liverpool last night.
Defence: van Gaal is likely to recall Matteo Darmian this weekend with Guillermo Varela dropping out while Chris Smalling is certain to keep his place in the back four despite making a costly error during Thursday night’s Europa League defeat at Anfield.
Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo should also retain their places in the back four but Phil Jones and Luke Shaw remain unavailable.
Midfield: Bastian Schweinsteiger made his long-awaited return off the bench last night so the German could now come back in to the starting eleven. Michael Carrick could also get a recall in the middle of the park with Morgan Schneiderlin and Marouane Fellaini dropping out after poor displays against Liverpool.
Attack: Jesse Lingard is back from suspension and he could get a recall along with Ander Herrera, who’s been unfortunate to miss out in recent games. Marcus Rushford was hauled off at half time against the Reds and I think we’ll see the youngster given a breather this weekend with Anthony Martial keeping their places in attack against the Hammers.
Another possible alternative
- David de Gea – Doesn’t need to be explained.
- Marcos Rojo – Think he will start out on the left.
- Chris Smalling – Will be kept busy by Andy Carroll.
- Timothy Fosu-Mensah – Daley Blind simply has to be rested.
- Guillermo Varela – One of the few players who is applying himself these days.
- Morgan Schneiderlin – Our best midfielder.
- Ander Herrera – Inexplicably dropped against Liverpool but it won’t (shouldn’t) happen again.
- Memphis Depay – I can see Memphis playing in a more central role with Juan Mata
- Anthony Martial – Putting him out on the left wing.
- Jesse Lingard – Will return on the right.
- Marcus Rashford – Again he’ll lead our line.
