Amorim to spring major selection change in Man Utd vs Man City

A trusted Manchester United source fully expects Ruben Amorim to make one major change to his starting XI for the derby clash with Manchester City on Sunday.

Man Utd travel across Manchester to face Man City at the Etihad on Sunday. United have crawled out of the gate this season, though City are in just as much strife having suffered back-to-back defeats to Tottenham and Brighton prior to the international break.

Defeat for either side will exacerbate the doom and gloom engulfing the early stages of their respective seasons. A victory, meanwhile, would draw a line under what came before.

Man Utd have looked livelier in attack this term when fielding the triumvirate of Bryan Mbeumo, Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha in the three most advanced positions.

However, the obvious omission from that forward line is new striker Benjamin Sesko who cost £73.7m (add-ons included) when arriving from RB Leipzig.

Sesko did start in the ill-fated League Cup defeat to Grimsby Town, though is yet to get a first start in the Premier League under his belt.

Precisely why Amorim has used Sesko sparingly so far isn’t yet clear. But if it’s through a lack of match fitness, the international break has come at just the right time.

Sesko played the full 90 minutes in both of Slovenia’s World Cup qualifiers with Sweden and Switzerland.

And with Mount and Cunha both injury doubts for the City clash, The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell is adamant Sesko will be unleashed on City’s shaky defence.

If Sesko doesn’t start, Whitwell suggested there may be a deeper issue in play behind the scenes.

Benjamin Sesko signed for occasions like these

“It’s been interesting the fact he hasn’t started [in the Premier League] so far,” began Whitwell when speaking on Talk of the Devils.

“Is that Amorim wanting to wait for him to adjust to English football and the connections he needs with his teammates in the attack?

“Is it loyalty and fidelity to Mason Mount who has started the season really well?

“But the injury to Mount now and the injury to Matheus Cunha does really raise the prospects of Sesko starting this game. It would be strange if he didn’t start now.”

When quizzed on if he really believes Sesko will start, Whitwell added: “I think so, particularly if Cunha and Mount are injured I just don’t see how he doesn’t.”

Whitwell then explained why even if Mount and Cunha were both available, he’d still expect Sesko to start anyway.

“But even then, this is a striker you’ve spent a lot of money on, you’ve pretty much forced Rasmus Hojlund to leave to get him in,” he added.

“To then not start him in a game as big as this would start to look a little bit curious, like what is the issue here?”

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