Carrick to make 1 big change vs Bournemouth with £37m Man Utd star dropped

Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick could make one change to the starting line-up for the Premier League game against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Friday evening.

The Red Devils returned to winning ways with a 3-1 league victory over Aston Villa yesterday.

Casemiro opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with a trademark header in the box. Ross Barkley equalised for the Villans shortly after the hour mark, but United still came on top.

Matheus Cunha scored the club’s second goal on the counter-attack in the 71st minute. The Brazilian played his part as Benjamin Sesko made it 3-1 in United’s favour in the end.

United have now strengthened their grip on the third position in the league. They are three points ahead of Aston Villa, while they are five and six points in front of Liverpool and Chelsea, respectively.

With a top-five spot likely to be sufficient for Champions League football, the Red Devils look on course to return to the elite European competition for the 2026/27 campaign.

United have another eight league matches left for the season. They face a resurgent Bournemouth side on the road on Friday, and Carrick could contemplate one major change.

Benjamin Sesko was surprisingly on the bench against the Villans, but the Slovenian made his mark once more, scoring the third goal, which put the result beyond the opposition.

Sesko has been in the starting XI in just two matches under Carrick. He has built his reputation as a super-sub, scoring four goals off the bench since the beginning of February.

The 22-year-old should be reinstated as the starting striker against the Cherries. This could see Bryan Mbeumo moving to the right wing, with Amad Diallo dropping out of the XI.

Amad was reinstated on the right side of United’s attack against the Villans, but the £37 million signing was largely ineffective in the final third and did not manage a single cross into the opposition box.

Mbeumo was equally frustrating as a makeshift number nine, but the Cameroon international has been a consistent creative presence from the right wing in his debut United season.

He has accumulated 13 goal contributions in 26 appearances compared to Amad’s tally of just five. The latter has no goal involvements under Carrick despite making seven starts as a winger.

Hence, Amad is the likelier candidate to be dropped to the bench to compensate for Sesko’s return to the XI. There may be no further changes to the starting line-up for Friday.

Matheus Cunha has earned his spot on the left wing with his game-changing goal on Sunday.

Lisandro Martinez is reportedly ‘expected‘ to return to team training after his short-term calf injury, but the Argentine star is likely to feature off the bench after a brief lay-off of four matches.

The World Cup winner could become a regular starter alongside Harry Maguire in central defence after the international break. United need to handle him with caution, given his injury record.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com

Article written by Sri Aswin .