Manchester United v RB Leipzig: Champions League – live!

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7.17pm GMT

“Our substitutions will be the difference tonight in a close 2-1 win,” reckons Neil Carter, who I’m going to assume is a United fan. They sure do have strength in depth and it’ll be no surprise if they need those subs to turn this game around.

7.09pm GMT

Well look at that! Solskjaer has decided to start both Pogba and Van de Beek in what will presumably be a midfield diamond, with Fernandes on the bench. It’ll be interesting to see how Wan-Bissaka and Shaw, full-backs in a flat back four, cope on the flanks. The visitors, meanwhile, will line up with a back three and have made four changes to the side that beat Hertha Berlin at the weekend, with Konaté, Halstenberg, Olmo and Poulsen all coming in.

Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Matic, Pogba, Van de Beek; Greenwood, Martial

5.39pm GMT

Hello. Manchester United made an ideal start to a tricky Champions League group by winning in Paris last week; now they aim to capitalise on that by doing the business at home to the team whom PSG beat in last season’s semi-final, RB Leipzig. The visitors arrive in fine form: they, too, won their first group game and are top of the Bundesliga. What is more, they did not lose an away trip in this tournament last season, winning three times and drawing once. United, remember, have not won at Old Trafford since Anthony Martial scored a late second-leg winner against LASK Linz in last season’s Europa League.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team selection will be fascinating. Martial is available despite domestic suspension but the real intrigue is at the back and in the middle. Will the manager opt for a three-man central defence? That is what Leipzig tend to use and, of course, it was the system that worked so well against PSG, thanks notably to Axel Tuanzebe. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have played pretty well in the last couple of games but that won’t stop United fans from keeping an envious eye on Leipzig’s young French centreback Dayot Upamecano. United are longstanding admirers of the player – they tried to sign him when he was a teenager – and he is an obvious target if the club decide to spend big on a new centreback next year. But they’ll be hoping United’s attackers make him suffer at Old Trafford today. And what of United’s midfield? Will Solskjaer find a way to fit Donny Van de Beek and/or Paul Pogba into it? Answers to all those questions, and much more, are imminent. Let’s get it on!

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