Depending on what happens at Villa Park, Ten Hag could be sacked during the international break, but Ratcliffe has insisted he won’t be involved with the decision on his future. “I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe said to the BBC when asked whether he could be sacked.
Erik ten Hag will be looking to ease the pressure on his shoulders with a win when Manchester United take on Aston Villa at Villa Park this afternoon.
The Dutch boss has made some huge selection decisions following the 3-3 draw away to Porto in midweek. Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt have both been axed to the bench with Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans recalled to start in the middle of Man Utd’s defence.
Andre Onana keeps his place in goal while Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui occupy the full-back positions once again. Kobbie Mainoo comes in to midfield with Casemiro dropping out while Christian Eriksen starts ahead of Manuel Ugarte.
Bruno Fernandes starts in the attacking midfield role for Manchester United while Garnacho comes in for Amad Diallo on the right. Joshua Zirkzee and Antony have to settle for places on the bench with Marcus Rashfordand Rasmus Hojlund starting in attack.
As for Aston Villa, Emi Martinez keeps goal while Matty Cash and Ezri Zonsa join Pau Torres and Lucas Digne in defence. There is no Amadou Onana so Ross Barkley starts in midfield along with Youri Tielemans and Jaden Philogene.
Morgan Rodgers keeps his place as he supports Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins in the Aston Villa attack. That means Jhon Durán has to make do with a place among the substitutes.
Here are the confirmed line-ups:
Aston Villa
Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Philogene, Barkley, Tielemans, Bailey, Rogers, Watkins
Subs: Gauci, Carlos, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Swinkels, Buendía, Bogarde, Young, Durán
Man Utd
Onana, Mazraoui, Maguire, Evans, Dalot, Mainoo, Eriksen, Fernandes, Garnacho, Rashford, Højlund
Subs: Bayindir, De Ligt, Lindelof, Martinez, Casemiro, Ugarte, Amad, Antony, Zirkzee.
