Manchester United XI vs Bodo/Glimt: Kobbie Mainoo & Mason Mount return, six changes expected

Rúben Amorim is expected to make a number of changes as his Manchester United side face Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday afternoon.

Rúben Amorim is set to oversee his second match as Manchester United head coach on Thursday evening, following a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town in his debut.

The Europa League encounter with Bodo/Glimt will mark Amorim’s first time managing United at Old Trafford since taking charge earlier this month.

Read More: Ruben Amorim issues clear response to Danny Murphy’s claims he must ‘evolve’ tactics at Man United

United currently sit 15th in the Europa League standings, three points shy of the top eight positions that ensure automatic progression to the next stage.

With one win and three draws so far, United need a strong showing in their remaining four group-stage games to climb the table and avoid the play-off round ahead of the knockout stages next year.

Six Man United changes expected

Amorim is expected to make as many as five changes to his starting XI as they line up for their fifth Europa League fixture of the season, four of which may be in the midfield and forward areas.

André Onana will likely start in goal as he has for most of this season. Regarding his three centre-backs, Amorim only has Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martínez available, who could start as the centre and left defenders. Noussair Mazraoui is likely to play as a right centre-back again.

There is a chance that Luke Shaw may play as the left centre-back, but as he has only just returned from injury, Amorm may choose to be cautious with the English defender.

After a good display against Ipswich and a lack of other options, Amad Diallo may start as the right wing-back again, with Diogo Dalot operating the same role on the left-hand side.

Amorim has been keen to stress that he needs to rotate his squad to maximise training time, and this could well lead to Casemiro and Christian Eriksen being replaced by Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte.

Mainoo will be returning for the first time since his injury in October. Since returning to the squad at Carrington, he has undergone over two weeks of full training.

In attack, Bruno Fernandes will likely start as the club’s captain, again in the right-attacking midfielder role. However, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho may be rotated out of the team.

With Amorim keen to see all his players in action, he may start Mason Mount as the left-attacking midfielder, considering the player’s ball-to-feet strengths. Rasmus Højlund will likely occupy his natural No. 9 position.

Man United expected XI

Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martínez, Amad, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Fernandes, Mount, Højlund.

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 Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.