Gary Neville has demanded that Rúben Amorim make at least one change when Manchester United line up to face Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup.
After two fixtures in the Premier League against Arsenal and Fulham, Manchester United are commencing in their quest for the Carabao Cup trophy by facing Grimsby Town at Blundell Park.
United are playing the second round of the Carabao Cup for the first time in a generation, with their 15th-placed league finish meaning they do not get a bye into the third round.
After a 1-0 loss against Arsenal and a 1-1 draw against Fulham, Rúben Amorim will be keen to see his side secure their first win of the 2025/26 campaign, following criticisms of the opening two results.
However, with the Grimsby tie coming just a few days after their trip to West London, the United head coach is expected to make a number of changes to his starting team.
Neville demands that Šeško starts
Benjamin Šeško signed for United from RB Leipzig for an initial £66 million fee, but has not yet started for United, with Amorim citing Šeško’s big move to a new city, including trying to buy a new house, as a factor.
However, former United captain and club legend Gary Neville has now demanded that, although Šeško does not look completely up to speed with the Premier League, Amorim must start playing the 22-year-old Slovenian.
“Sesko at the moment – let’s just say it, he is nowhere near in terms of fitness or getting up to speed,” Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. “Obviously, there is a clamour to play him. Even I was saying last wee,k let’s get him straight in.
“[Amorim] is going to have to get Sesko in against Grimsby and give him 90 minutes so that he can be played [from the start] against Burnley next Saturday because you can see he needs football.
“What you can’t do is let a player of that value, that potential, just keep being on the bench. The problem he’ll have is that he wants to keep Mason Mount in the team.
“But when Sesko did come on and Mount went into midfield and they took Casemiro off, they did get opened up and it looked [more likely] that Fulham would score.”
Amorim must make a number of changes vs Grimsby
After two performances off the bench, Neville is right – the “quality” Šeško must be handed his first start in Red against Grimsby, as it will be a low-pressure fixture that will ease him into English football and get much-needed minutes in his legs.
However, there are multiple other changes that the head coach must make when United travels to England’s east coast, with one being that Kobbie Mainoo must be given his first competitive minutes of the season over Bruno Fernandes, who has been poor so far.
Meanwhile, Bryan Mbeumo has been good in the first half of ties but has tailed off as games progress due to an apparent lack of fitness. Therefore, it may be wise to rest the Cameroon international and play Amad in an attacking role instead.
Also, after two games in goal, Altay Bayındır could be dropped in place of André Onana, while Harry Maguire, Ayden Heaven, and Tyler Fredricson could be handed their first starts this season.
Amorim must use this Grimsby tie as a gixture to give players who need a chance to impress minutes on the field, but also have the tie serve a warning to those who may be under performnign that their spots are not as safe as they may have been last season.
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