Two Man Utd stars in line for first league start of season vs Bournemouth

Manchester United will face AFC Bournemouth at Old Trafford in the Premier League tomorrow.

United manager Ruben Amorim heads into the contest with mounting anxiety as availability concerns threaten to derail his plans.

Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt have already been ruled out.

Benjamin Sesko is locked in a race against time after being struck down by food poisoning at the worst possible moment.

Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are all preparing to join their national teams for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), putting their involvement for tomorrow in serious doubt.

We have already seen how Amorim could line up his defence and attack if all six players are out.

Their potential absence could also open the door for two United stars to make their first starts of the 2025–26 campaign.

Kobbie Mainoo

The 20-year-old has played just 183 minutes across ten league games this term.

Mainoo remains one of the brightest talents to emerge from the United academy in recent years and warrants far greater responsibility.

Amorim clearly does not rate him highly, which is deeply frustrating for United fans to understand.

If Mbeumo and Diallo are sidelined, shifting Bruno Fernandes into the right-sided number 10 role appears a logical solution.

That tactical tweak could finally allow Mainoo to start alongside Casemiro in the heart of midfield.

Lisandro Martinez

Martinez made his long-awaited return from injury in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

The Argentine has since been carefully managed, making three substitute appearances as Amorim eases him back to full sharpness.

With Maguire and De Ligt unavailable and Mazraoui potentially absent, the temptation to start Martinez may be impossible to ignore.

He even offered a glimpse of that possibility with a 20-minute cameo at central centre-back against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Stats from Fotmob.com

Article written by Sanidhya Bhardwaj .