Manchester United Predicted Lineup, Injury Reports and Debuts vs. Fulham in Premier League Opener

The 2024–25 Premier League season begins on Saturday at Old Trafford when Manchester United takes on Fulham. Updates on the squad, injury reports and expected starting lineup has been revealed.

The Dutchman will have to make some difficult decisions in defence and attack. This is as a result of several players being out due to injury. Also, the new players Matthijs de Ligt and Nouassir Mazraoui, who arrived from Bayern Munich in a double deal worth up to £60 million have only started training with the new team on thursday.

Defence & Goal Keepers

Ten Hag regrettably has to deal with a number of fitness issues this time as well. Defensive injuries plagued Manchester United during a challenging 2023–24 season. This saw them record their lowest league result in Premier League history. Left-back Luke Shaw, who had trouble staying healthy for most of the previous season missed England’s opening game at Euro 2024. He also had a calf injury shortly after he started training again and is predicted to miss about a month.

Leny Yoro, a recent acquisition worth £52 million, suffered a foot injury at the end of July that would sideline him for three months. Tyrell Malacia is still recovering from a major knee injury that kept him out of action for the whole previous season. De Ligt or Mazraoui may make their debut right away even though they haven’t played much for Carrington. Lisandro Martínez filled in at right-back during the Community Shield loss to Manchester City last weekend. He may return if Mazraoui plays and De Ligt could replace Jonny Evans.

Midfield

At least in the midfield, where all of the expected starting are healthy, the injury situation is better. This implies that Casemiro will most likely play in midfield alongside Kobbie Mainoo, just as he did on Saturday. While talks over a possible transfer to Napoli are ongoing, Fulham has made transfer bids for Scott McTominay. Emile Smith Rowe, a former Arsenal player, will likely make his debut too.

Forwards

Summer signing Joshua Zirkzee is expected to be eased into the starting eleven gradually, it is likely that Bruno Fernandes will start as a center-forward once again. Danish striker Rasmus Højlund will likely have a delayed start to his second season with the club due to a hamstring injury which is expected to sideline him for approximately a month. Mason Mount will get another opportunity to play in his favoured number ten role. This is because Ten Hag, who had experimented with using Jadon Sancho as a striker throughout the preseason. He appears to have resolved on employing the club captain as his number nine instead. Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford will be pushed by Amad Diallo for a starting spot.