With United having an extremely packed schedule over the coming weeks, I think it would be wise for Erik ten Hag to make use of his squad and give an opportunity to those players who have not been playing regularly of late.
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However, I think it is important that ten Hag gets the balance right and not playing too many players that have not featured regularly in recent weeks, so I would still play the likes of Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rasshford because United have an excellent opportunity of putting themselves in a good position for the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
The reason as to why I say it is important for the United manager to get the balance right because if you remember during the 2019/20 season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer paid the price for not picking a strong starting XI for the game against Manchester City as he made 4 changes from United’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on New Year’s Day back in 2020, which saw Anthony Martial and Nemanja Matic drop to the bench but Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw were not available.
The 3-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side left United with too much to do, even though they won the return leg 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium, thanks to a brilliant strike from Matic.
If I was ten Hag, I would prioritise this game over the Reading one, which takes place on Saturday because no disrespect to the Championship side but if United cannot get over the line in that game, then there will be concerns. For the game against the Royals, I would potentially look at giving Zidane Iqbal and Kobbie Mainoo an opportunity from the start.