Michael Owen predicts Ruben Amorim's Man Utd starting line-up - with £70m star dumped
Ruben Amorim is set to officially become Manchester United's new manager on November 11 and former Red Devils striker Michael Owen has predicted the team he will pick
by Matthew Cooper · The MirrorMichael Owen believes Ruben Amorim will drop Casemiro when he takes charge of Manchester United later this month.
Amorim will officially join United on November 11 and his first match will be against Ipswich Town at Portman Road after the international break. The 39-year-old has favoured a 3-4-3 formation during his time in charge of Sporting and Owen expects him to implement that system at Old Trafford.
The former United striker believes Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt will form Amorim's first-choice back three. Yoro is yet to make his debut for United, having picked up an injury in pre-season, but Owen feels the teenager will have a key role to play under the new manager.
"I think that's an important position for Ruben Amorim," Owen said on Premier League Productions. "Amorim has a reputation of having that central defender come into the midfield a little bit so that player has got to be decent on the ball.
"De Ligt and Martinez either side are aggressive defenders, they like being up against strikers, so that middle player has got to be good on the ball and Yoro fits the bill. I think if everyone is fit that's the back-three he would pick."
Owen also picked Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot as Amorim's first-choice wing-backs, while he believes Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte will start in midfield with £70million signing Casemior relegated to the bench.
"He can only pick 11 players and we did debate Ugarte or Casemiro, it was a bit of a toss of a coin between the two," Owen added. "But we just felt he would go with Ugarte because he's played under him before, that might just tip it in Ugarte's favour."
Club captain Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford have also been tipped to play as No.10's behind Rasmus Hojlund. "It's important to mention that these two players play almost inside in a lot of his formations," Owen continued.
"They are not necessarily wide players so they come in and play more like No.10's and that plays into Bruno's favour. With those players coming inside, you could ask, can Rashford play inside? I think he can.
"I think he's got decent vision. He's not going to play otherwise unless he ends up playing him up front instead of Hojlund. I think Rashford will start but it will be in that more inside position."
Michael Owen's predicted XI: Andre Onana; Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt; Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte, Diogo Dalot; Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Bruno Fernandes
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