Erik ten Hag must make two essential Man United changes vs Liverpool, one is very obvious

Erik ten Hag should be making at least two changes ahead of Manchester United’s game against Liverpool next weekend.

The Reds have had a mixed start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. They won their opening game against Fulham but lost against Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of their next fixture against Liverpool, we look at two clear changes Erik ten Hag needs to make.

It is quite clear that the manager wants to integrate Matthijs de Ligt into the team, but he cannot come off the bench for a third game in a row.

The Dutch defender’s introductions against Fulham and Brighton for Harry Maguire broke one of the oldest rules in football. Do not replace your centre-back unless forced to.

Now, considering De Ligt had no pre-season minutes with Bayern Munich and Harry Maguire played a good opening game against Fulham, it was not entirely surprising to see him do the same against Brighton.

But now, he must move forward with De Ligt and display a level of ruthlessness with Maguire. After a year of changing centre-back partnerships, Lisandro Martínez and De Ligt must start playing together.

Secondly, with mixed in-game management so far, the Dutchman cannot allow both Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo to complete 90 minutes together in the engine room.

Against the Seagulls, the midfield pairing looked knackered in the latter stages of the game.

Whether Manuel Ugarte is signed by the point, Ten Hag has the option of Toby Collyer, and he must be bold. There have been evident fitness struggles in the latter stages of the games in the middle of the pitch so far.

Mainoo has not stopped since his debut last November, and Casemiro now seems unable to keep up a high level throughout games.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Thursday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.