Explained: Why Nemanja Matic is not in the Man Utd squad to face Liverpool

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made the audacious decision to introduce Scott McTominay to his starting XI for this afternoon’s blockbuster clash with Liverpool.

McTominay rose to prominence under former manager Jose Mourinho but has so far been reduced to sporadic appearances under Solskjaer, since the Norwegian took the helm in December.

What is the big team news for both sides? Five key things to know…

  1. McTominay will be making his fourth PL start of the season, and ninth in total.
  2. He has come in as a like-for-like replacement for Nemanja Matic who has been ruled out.
  3. The Serbian anchorman was expected to play a vital role but Solskjaer has since confirmed a training ground injury.
  4. Elsewhere Jesse Lingard returns to the squad following a short injury, but could only make the bench.
  5. For Liverpool their only change from the Bournemouth win is Jordan Henderson for Naby Keita in midfield.

Solskjaer has largely utilised a midfield trident consisting of Nemanja Matic at the base, with Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba operating further forward.

However, the 45-year-old tactician will have to cope without his mountainous midfielder after confirming (via MUTV) that the he will be “out for a couple of weeks” after suffering an injury in training.

He stated: “We tried to get him fit for the game but it wasn’t to be. But we’ll manage without him.”

As such McTominay has taken his place in what many fans are dubbing the game of the season, with United locking horns with their old North West adversaries at Old Trafford, looking to thwart the Reds’ title challenge.

The inclusion of McTominay will be seen as a bold move from Solskjaer, and while Gary Neville has expressed his concern about the Matic’s omission, he was not surprised to see the interim manager opt to put his trust in McTominay, who was a favourite of Mourinho.

He told Sky Sports: “It’s a blow. I was worried. When you think like for like replacements for Matic, they haven’t got anyone experienced to play there.

“I’m happy he’s gone with McTominay. Putting faith in a young player, it doesn’t surprise me Ole’s done that.”

Despite the concern on the terraces Solskjaer provided a cool head and is expecting a mature performance from the 22-year-old enforcer.

He said: “He’s played in these games before and knows the importance of it, so I’m sure he’ll slot in there and do very well.”

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Elsewhere, United will contest with David de Gea in goal, a back four of Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw, while the midfield will be the aforementioned McTominay alongside Herrera and Pogba, while Juan Mata will be deployed as a No 10, dovetailing behind a front two of Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku.

Man Utd fans react to Nemanja Matic’s replacement vs Liverpool

Naturally there was some skepticism among the United faithful, but some fans were quietly excited to see how a Solskjaer-McTominay compares to a Mourinho-McTominay, while others were downright disgusted.

The post Explained: Why Nemanja Matic is not in the Man Utd squad to face Liverpool appeared first on Squawka News.



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