18/08/2016 08:20, Report by Mark Froggatt
With Chris Smalling and Paul Pogba no longer suspended, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has a healthy selection dilemma ahead of Friday night's Premier League match against Southampton at Old Trafford.
The question mark over both players’ involvement may also trouble Reds supporters who take part in our popular Team Predictor challenge on Facebook, in which a signed shirt is awarded to a fan who correctly names the manager’s starting XI ahead of each top-flight fixture this season.
Pogba is the main talking point ahead of Friday’s clash with Saints now that he is officially available for selection, having missed the 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Sunday due to a one-match ban that carried over from a yellow card he picked up in his final match with former club Juventus.
If fit and ready, one would assume the world-record signing would slot straight into the starting XI – but who would he replace in the team? That is something of a head-scratcher following the excellent performances of central midfielders Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini at the Vitality Stadium.
Herrera was singled out for praise by many fans and pundits watching the game, while Fellaini’s fine display was highlighted by Mourinho during the manager’s post-match interview with MUTV after the Belgian impressively finished the game with a pass completion rate of 98.7 per cent.
“You look at the squad now and there were players who were not even in the squad at Bournemouth,” Paddy Crerand told ManUtd.com this week. “There is such a challenge for places and having people up your backside wanting your position keeps you on your toes, believe me!
“It is going to be interesting now because Paul Pogba will presumably be in the team, so who is the manager going to leave out? Herrera and Fellaini were both terrific at Bournemouth. Fellaini is a very underrated player. I think he does a great job and is an important player in certain situations. So it is going to be interesting to see the team against Southampton; let's wait and see what happens.”
Smalling can also face the Saints after serving the one-match suspension that he collected with his dismissal in last season’s FA Cup final at Wembley. He was excellent throughout 2015/16 and registered 55 starts at centre-back, but it remains to be seen whether he will slot back into the starting XI.
New signing Eric Bailly was superb against Leicester City in the Community Shield and again at Bournemouth, earning the Man of the Match awards from both outings, while Daley Blind’s intelligent approach appears to be complementing the Ivorian’s physical style. So will the manager displace either of his centre-backs against Southampton? We await his team news announcement at 19:00 BST on Friday.
Fans can enter our Team Predictor challenge by visiting the club’s official Facebook page.
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