Manchester United boast exquisite opportunity to elbow local rivals Manchester City as League leaders when they host a below par Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
United Chief Louis van Gaal has introduced some changes to the squad that defeated Ipswich Town in the third round of League One Cup with Matteo Darmian returning to replace Ashley Young in the defence.
Star youngster Anthony Martial starts in the attack after coming off the bench to score his fourth United goal for in midweek, with Captain Wayne Rooney and Memphis Depay tasked to support the in-form French striker.
Daley Blind and Chris Smalling team up at the back with protection from Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin in the midfield.
Furthermore, Valencia also makes his first Premier League start of the new season.
Marouane Fellaini, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Ashley Young are destined to the Old Trafford bench today.
Sunderland, meanwhile, faces a massive test at Old Trafford while searching for their first victory of the new season.
Let’s see how the two sides are lining up against each other.
| Manchester United | Sunderland | ||
| 1 | David De Gea | Costel Pantilimon | 1 |
| 25 | Antonio Valencia | Billy Jones | 2 |
| 12 | Chris Smalling | John O’Shea | 16 |
| 17 | Daley Blind | Younes Kaboul | 15 |
| 36 | Matteo Darmian | Patrick van Aanholt | 3 |
| 16 | Michael Carrick | Yann M’Vila | 21 |
| 28 | Morgan Schneiderlin | Lee Cattermole | 6 |
| 8 | Juan Mata | Adam Johnson | 11 |
| 10 | Wayne Rooney | Ola Toivonen | 20 |
| 7 | Memphis Depay | Jeremain Lens | 17 |
| 9 | Anthony Martial | Fabio Borini | 9 |
| Substitutes | |||
| 4 | Phil Jones | Sebastian Larsson | 7 |
| 18 | Ashley Young | Jordi Gomez | 14 |
| 20 | Sergio Romero | Jermain Defoe | 18 |
| 21 | Ander Herrera | Sebastian Coates | 22 |
| 27 | Marouane Fellaini | DeAndre Yedlin | 24 |
| 31 | Bastian Schweinsteiger | Vito Mannone | 25 |
| 44 | Andreas Pereira | Steven Fletcher | 26 |
