Possible Manchester United Line-up To Face Sunderland: Fletcher & Cleverley To Start, Rojo Unavailable

“Two weeks ago, I was the King of Manchester, and now I’m the devil of Manchester,” said Louis van Gaal, the man entrusted with the responsibility of giving United a sense of direction in the post-Ferguson era after last season’s setback under David Moyes. The 63-year old Dutchman knows he has a mighty difficult task at hand, but he doesn’t shy away from the magnitude of the difficulty. Instead, he asks for time and patience. For faith and support. Louis van Gaal’s teams have never been fast starters, usually slow off the blocks, but a strong force when they learn to adapt to van Gaal’s footballing ideologies.

Manchester United are not a finished article, instead a challenging work-in-progress. Louis van Gaal will know that while big name signings are imminent at Old Trafford over the remaining few days of the transfer window, with Angel Di Maria set to sign this week, Manchester United must get a positive result at the Stadium of Light to improve the mood around Old Trafford. The Dutchman is expected to stick to the 3-4-1-2 formation that he started with against Swansea, but fresh injuries to Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini coupled with Marcos Rojo’s unavailability, will give van Gaal serious selection headaches.

Let’s take a look at the 11 men who could take to the field for United at the Stadium of Light:

GK:

David de Gea is United’s undisputed No.1 goalkeeper and should be an automatic selection in goal. The Spaniard is one of the very best in the business at the moment and would look to continue his excellent form from last season.

Defenders:

Marcos Rojo has not yet received his work permit, so the Argentine is ineligible for selection on Sunday. Jonny Evans resumed training on Friday, but is unlikely to feature at the Stadium of Light. So, van Gaal has little choice but to stick with Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett at the back. The youngster made his first league appearance for United last weekend and impressed with his excellent positioning and distribution from the back. Ashley Young should continue as the left wing-back in Luke Shaw’s absence, while Adnan Januzaj may start on the opposite flank, although the Belgian would ideally be hoping to play further up the pitch with the likes of Rooney and van Persie.

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Midfield:

This is one part of the field where United are really short of numbers. Michael Carrick is a long-term absentee, while Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera are set to undergo scans on their ankle injuries. Shinji Kagawa is an option in central midfield, but van Gaal is likely to persist with the industrious duo of Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley in the middle of the park. United’s lack of both quality and personnel in central midfield remains an issue that needs to be addressed immediately in the last few days of the transfer window.

Juan Mata should get the nod in the hole behind the strikers, but with Adnan Januzaj and Shinji Kagawa genuine contenders for his position, the Spaniard needs to improve on his disappointing showing against the Swans.

Attack:

Robin van Persie’s return will add undoubted quality in the final third, but how Rooney and van Persie link up in van Gaal’s system will be interesting to watch. The duo have had only a few days to train with the coaching staff, and United may lack that fluidity in attack in the early stages of the game. But, given the attacking talent at van Gaal’s disposal in the form of Mata, Rooney and van Persie, the Dutchman must be confident of improving on last week’s performance against Swansea.