British football publication Sports Mole has published its prediction for the opening Champions League league-phase match between Manchester United and Sabah, scheduled for September 10 at Old Trafford.
As reported by İdman.Biz, preview author Matt Law expects United head coach Michael Carrick to rotate his squad ahead of Sunday's derby against Manchester City.
According to the publication, Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Andrey Santos and Benjamin Sesko could return to the starting lineup. They may replace Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Youri Tielemans and Marcus Rashford respectively. In that scenario, Matheus Cunha would move to the left side of the attack.
Rashford was substituted during the second half of the match against Everton after suffering a minor injury and requires an assessment. Sports Mole suggests Carrick may take a cautious approach with the forward ahead of the derby. Sesko, who scored after coming off the bench against Everton, could be handed a starting role.
The publication also notes that Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Carlos Baleba, Amad Diallo and Tom Heaton are unavailable for Manchester United.
As for Sabah, the British journalists expect Joy-Lance Mickels and Veljko Simic to feature in attack. The preview highlights the two players' productivity this season: Mickels has eight goals and one assist in 11 matches, while Simic has seven goals and one assist. Kahim Parris is also expected to start.
Sports Mole's predicted starting lineups:
Manchester United: Lammens, Dalot, Yoro, Martinez, Mazraoui, Santos, Mainoo, Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha, Sesko.
Sabah: Pokatilov, Solvey, Dashdamirov, Pukhach, Zedadka, Rakhmonaliev, Isayev, Lepinjica, Parris, Mickels, Simic.
Meanwhile, the author predicts a 3-1 victory for Manchester United. However, the publication believes the English side's defensive problems could prevent them from keeping a clean sheet.
Sabah have won six of their eight Champions League qualifying matches this season and kept four clean sheets, giving the Azerbaijani club reason to believe they can create opportunities against the hosts.
The match will kick off on September 10 at 23:00 Baku time.
