Manchester United expected XI vs Real Betis as Erik ten Hag’s injured defender returns

Erik ten Hag is expected to see the return of an injured defender as Manchester United line up to face Real Betis in their fourth pre-season friendly.

Manchester United have completed three pre-season fixtures so far in the summer of 2024, with two remaining. They experienced a 1-0 defeat to Rosenborg but bounced back with a 2-0 victory against Rangers in Scotland, with goals from Amad Diallo and Joe Hugill. New signing Leny Yoro made his unofficial debut following his £52 million transfer from Lille.

In their first USA fixture, United played Arsenal and lost 2-1. However, they won the pre-arranged penalty shootout 4-3.

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Next, United will take on Real Betis at 03:00 BST on Tuesday, 1 August, at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. The pre-season tour will wrap up with a final match in Columbia, South Carolina, at 00:45 BST on Sunday, 4 August.

Against Real Betis, André Onana will retain his place as he continues to gather fitness heading into his second season as United’s first-choice goalkeeper. In front of him, there is expected to be a change following Yoro’s injury against Arsenal.

With Yoro’s condition still unknown, he is expected to be replaced by Jonny Evans, but in the second half fans will likely see Victor Lindelöf return, who has returned to training after missing the last two pre-season ties due to injury.

Evans is expected to partner Maguire, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Amass to take up the right and left-back positions, respectively. Amass had a fantastic game against Arsenal and was rightly applauded.

There are expected to be no changes in midfield. Toby Collyer has been one of United’s best-performing players across the three games so far and will almost certainly continue as a partner to Casemiro in midfield.

Mason Mount, another star of the tour so far, will likely retain his position as the most attacking of the three options. Many of these players will likely play 60 minutes against Real Betis instead of the 45 minutes that most have seen so far in each game.

Ten Hag will have to make some further changes in attack. Although Rasmus Højlund scored the opening goal against Arsenal, he had to come off with an injury not too long after. He has not been spotted in training since, meaning he will not start against Betis.

With Joshua Zirkzee in Manchester, Ten Hag may opt to play Marcus Rashford up front. Although Ethan Wheatley is available, Ten Hag will want his first-team players to gain as many minutes as possible across pre-season, and Rashford playing up front would allow Jadon Sancho further playing time on the left wing.

Amad, who has been fantastic for United in the last four months, will almost certainly take up his position on the right wing. This is the time when Ten Hag will want to start nailing down the starting XI he will select to play Manchester City in the Community Shield on Saturday, 10 August.

Man United expected XI

Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Maguire, Amass, Casemiro, Collyer, Mount, Amad, Rashford, Sancho.