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One of Ruben Amorim’s hallmarks of leading Manchester United so far has undoubtedly been his choice of attacking line-up.
However, against Arsenal, he played with two defensive wing-backs rather than a defensive wing-back like Ahmad, and pushed Bruno Fernandes back into midfield along with defensive midfielder Mano Ugarte.
Amorim will no doubt choose a similar XI at the Etihad today, attempting to remain compact and relying on Fernandes to be the deep-lying playmaker to initiate counter-attacks.
The leaked line-up (below), which was reportedly posted and then deleted by The MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst, suggests just that.
With Harry Maguire coming into the back three, Noussair Mazraoui could move up to wingback alongside Diogo Dalot, another natural full-back.
Interestingly, Mason Mount and Amad are in the front three alongside centre-forward Rasmus Hojlund, as sources claimed on Thursday.
If true, Mount’s selection clearly shows that the manager has high pressing and plenty of energy in mind as he attempts to pressure Guardiola’s possession-based team for 90 minutes.
In this tactic, Alejandro Garnacho was sacrificed in favor of the cleaner and more defensively disciplined Amad.
United will look to attack through the channels rather than relying on wing play.
One potential weakness of this approach is that it relies on plays where Rasmus Hojlund holds the ball with his back to the goal and waits for a runner deep. This was the approach Amorim used to great effect to beat City 4-1 at Sporting on November 5.
At that time, Amorim had the high-flying Viktor Gyokeres as his target man. But playing with his back to goal has been a weak point in Hozlund’s game in the Premier League so far and he will be up against a world-class centre-back in Ruben Dias, so a lot will depend on how that duel goes.
If the leaked line-up is correct, Maguire’s inclusion suggests Amorim intends to keep the defensive line slightly deeper than it has been so far. If he had been thinking of playing on a high line, he would have chosen the much faster Leny Yoro, who could track him faster in transition.
Maguire was also selected against Arsenal, but there were few other options at that stage.
The derby kicks off today at 4.30pm GMT.
Luckhurst and MEN casually posted the leaked team for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/5dPzuoiDZ6
— Paul Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll2) December 14, 2024
Featured image Justin Setterfield (Getty Images)
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