United will face Chelsea in a Premier League matchup in London on Thursday night. Manager Erik ten Hag will be hoping for a turnaround for United after a late injury problem at the club. Some players are expected to return to the starting lineup.

Similarly, Chelsea will need a change of fortune after spending nearly £1 billion in the last four transfer windows. They have spent a fortune on the season so far, however they are only in 11th place in the league after 28 games, with 40 points.

United is still not in the playoff picture, even if it is late in the season. They will have to play at a higher level in every game if they want to turn their season around. This United squad has to stop riding the current wave of speculation and start winning games.

Onana, who plays in goal

Although Andre Onana has been heavily criticized this season, his stellar record of shutouts ranks him among the top goalkeepers in the Premier League. David Raya of Arsenal has been the league’s best goalie, and Onana is second only in that category by two shutouts.

While Onana has made several serious errors this season, his metrics appear to have improved, suggesting that he is not the reason behind the 61 goals conceded in all competitions while he has been playing!

Other than Onana, United does not really have a superior goalkeeper on the team. This season, Altay Bayindir has only appeared in one game for United due to injury, and he has been out for a few weeks. For the foreseeable future, the team’s first-choice goalkeeper will probably be Onana.

Defenders: Dalot, Varane, Maguire, and Wan-Bissaka

One of United’s biggest issues this season has been the defense. With just eight weeks left in the Premier League season, injuries have been a recurring theme for the most part of the season and appear to be still having an impact on the team.

Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka ought to start at fullback for United against Chelsea. Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw are both out this season, leaving them as the only healthy and seasoned fullbacks at the team. Shaw should return to action before the season is out.

Victor Lindelof, who has a hamstring ailment, and Lisandro Martinez, who made his comeback to action against Brentford over the weekend, will both miss a month due to calf injuries. Raphael Varane has also been the subject of criticism, but this week he might accompany Harry Maguire.

Midfield: Mainoo, Casemiro

Despite the fact that the team suffered a lot of injuries in the early going, United’s midfield has performed well this year. Now that he is back in action, Casemiro might find himself back in United’s starting lineup against Chelsea.

Following his incredible ascent in the Premier League this season—which has also seen him play for England, although in exhibition matches—Kobbie Mainoo is probably going to partner the Brazilian. Mainoo is a player who has seizes opportunities when they present themselves and makes sure to seize them.

He has made a huge impression and received numerous accolades to support it. Sofyan Amrabat, Mason Mount, Christian Eriksen, and Scott McTominay are among Ten Hag’s possibilities at these positions; but, players like Mount, Eriksen, and McTominay can also play further forward.

Rashford, Garnacho, and Fernandes are attacking midfielders.

Although United’s attacking midfield this season has a lot of potential, there doesn’t seem to be a real backup plan in case this trio is unable to perform as expected. In the summer, United will need to deal with it, and it very well may be.

Alejandro Garnacho has scored seven goals and provided four assists so far this season, demonstrating his ability to both score and assist on goals. Since he appears to be the player most likely to contribute and score more goals this season—I would like to see him score 10 or more—he should start against Chelsea.

This season, Bruno Fernandes has eight goals and nine assists; it’s not his finest, but he’s still producing and scoring, some of which have come from penalty kicks. Considering that he scored 30 goals the previous season, Marcus Rashford is the underperformer in this situation with eight goals and six assists.

Hojlund is forward.

With 13 goals and two assists so far this season, Rasmus Hojlund leads United in scoring. Given that he joined the team with such high expectations, it is not what many United supporters were hoping to see, but things never worked out for him right from the beginning of the season. But he recovered.

Hojlund got off to a fantastic start in the UEFA Champions League, but his goals did little to aid United, who lost in the group stages due to a weak defense. But it was encouraging to see Hojlund find his scoring form in the second half of the season.

In order to become a dominant force in the Premier League and beyond next season, United will need to be active during the summer transfer window in order to find a partner and garner some support for the Danish striker, Hojlund, who has no competition at the striker position.