The Champions League returns this week with Manchester United travelling to the Ukraine to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the first away European tie under the reign of the new manager. We’re almost getting to the point where Moyes is going to run out of firsts soon, and the visit to Donetsk will be one of the toughest. The result against West Brom was another disappointment but the adjustment was always going to be a tough one.
The starting eleven this Wednesday will likely be stronger than the eleven chosen to face West Brom, with that said it’s likely that David De Gea will retain his place in goal. I expect that the back four will see the return of Nemanja Vidic after being rested for the West Brom game. Any thoughts of seeing Ferdinand on Wednesday were laid to rest when Moyes confirmed, “Rio has a slight groin problem, it is nothing serious but I was never bringing him anyway.” Jonny Evans has played the last two games against Liverpool and West Brom to complete his return to the first team. The left side of the defence will surely see Patrice Evra regain the starting place, he offers defensive cover that Buttner can’t and that will surely be needed against Shakhtar. After Phil Jones started at the weekend and Rafael was able to rest after his first match back from injury against Liverpool a week ago, I would guess Moyes will start with Rafael in an attempt to make the defence as strong as possible.
The midfield is a big question, will Moyes break his pattern of playing 4-4-1-1 and start with an extra man in midfield as Ferguson did so much? If this was any match other than an away fixture in Europe I would guess that he would stick to the formation he has played in every competitive match this season, but with Van Persie a doubt then my guess is that he may elect to start the extra man. After not starting at the weekend against West Brom I would expect the “King Sized” Belgian to start alongside Michael Carrick in the centre of the park. After losing his place in the humiliating 4-1 defeat to local rivals Manchester City two weeks ago, Antonio Valencia may return to the right side of midfield.
It was confirmed earlier today on ManUtd.com that Anderson, Fabio and Wilfried Zaha were left in Manchester, it was also confirmed on the official Manchester United Twitter account @ManUtd that Nani will be available for tomorrow’s match after completing a one game ban following his dismissal against Real Madrid last season. I think it’s probably unlikely for this to change anything for Moyes as he will be looking for more cover in a tough away fixture. The left side of midfield has options like Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa, or Ryan Giggs.
I would expect Moyes to start with Danny Welbeck on the left Wednesday night. After giving Kagawa the opportunity against West Brom on Saturday, he drifted out of the game and ended up being substituted at half time.
Wayne Rooney will start against Shakhtar Donetsk unless some unforeseen circumstances rules that out. Rooney has arguably been the best played in the United squad so far this season and will be looking to continue his form with goals in the Champions League. Partnering him up front could be Van Persie. When asked about Van Persie, Moyes said, “Yes, Robin is fit, but we will make a decision tomorrow whether we start him or not.” The reemergence of his thigh injury will be a worry for the Scot and he may be elect to allow United’s top scorer last season to sit this game out unless needed and start an extra man in the midfield. If he chooses to go with this option then he may elect to start Cleverley alongside Carrick which will allow Fellaini to push on at times and United more strength in the midfield.
A good win against Bayer Leverkusen has put United in a very good position going into this game, a draw will be good result but a win could do a lot for the morale of the team and fans as
David Moyes navigates his way through the challenging start to a career as Manchester United manager.
Who do you think will be in Manchester United’s starting XI? Comment in the section below.
71 replies on “Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester United: United's Starting XI?”
Stupid formation weres rvp were is nani n kagawa wat is welbeck doing in the team
This is rubbish formation! There is no hope for Man united this kind of selections. I think Moyes is the major problem of Man united. He lacks ideas, confidence and managerial deficiencies.
Iam Joining as Junior Says Its A stupid Formation .The formation must be like this: RVP————Hernandez———-Wilfred saha
Rooney———–Fellaini——————–Januzaj
Jones———–Smalling————-Vidic————–Evra
DDG
Rafael, Vidic, Evans, Evra
Fellaini, Carrick, Kagawa
Valencia, Rooney, Nani
That team has Kagawa in his position, numbers in midfield, width upfront with lots of potential for dynamic play between Nani, Kagawa and Rooney.
The only issue is RvP missing.
DDG
raffel evans vidic evra
Carrick felliani
kagawa
Saha rvp ronney
Jones will play in place of Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck will also be on the bench and Rooney will play a roaming roll and RVP will play IMO. So I see it as a 4-2-3-1, don’t see this side winning by many but don’t see them losing either.
De Gea
Rafa Evans Vidic Evra
Carrick Fellaini
Valencia Jones Rooney
RVP
If moye’s realy want to win game he need a very sharp and dedicated wingers. Moreso, kagawa is much needed and at the defence line up we need rafel evans vidic and evra and leav v.p & rooney up front thise will be fantastic
my own list is 4-4-2 degea rafael evan vidic evra valencia carrick jones fellaini rooney vanpersie
rafa.evans.vedij.evra.crrik.claverly.nani.rooney.kagawa and robin van
Jam
WHY do you persist with welbeck. HE WILL NEVER BE A WORLDCLASS PLAYER
My team to play in Ukraine
De Gea
Rafael – Vidic -Jones -Evra
Valencia – Carrick – Fellinini – Nani
Kagawa – Rooney
DDG
Rafael, Evans, Vidic, Evra
Fellaini, Carrick
Valencia, Kagawa, Nani
Rooney
If moyes wnt win d game against sharktar,he surpose 2 change his formation 2mao by lining up….ddg refeal evra vidic evans carrick fellaini kagawa rooney van persie nani
If moyes wnt 2 win d game against sharktar,he surpose 2 change his formation 2mao by lining up….ddg refeal evra vidic evans carrick fellaini kagawa rooney van persie nani
de gea
evans. vidic
rafeal. evra
carrick. fellaini
nani. kagawa
rooney. rvp
Best lineup so far from viktor.
De gea
Rafael vidic evans evra
Clevery carrick fellaine kagawa rooney rVp
I think it should be 4-4-2
De Gea
Evera-Vidic-Evans-Rafeal
Valencia-Carick-Kagawa-Nani
Rooney-RVP.
Cause i believe we need Kagawa in this game is a best player and i don’t see reason why he should being remain at bench. Moyes please Kagawa is our player we need him in our team. Take note, thanks.
De Gea in goal. Raphael, Evans, Vidic and Evra in the defence. In midfield. We Kagawa, Cleverly and Carrick. We also have Fellaini, Welbec and Van per sie up front. 4 3 2 1
Mine is a 4-4-1-1 formatxn..degea rafa evens vidic evra fellaini carrick kagawa nani rooney vp…
yes thats a good formation
P’se forgive me. Why do I rate T Cleverly above Fellaini?
1,de gea 2.rafael 3.evra 4,evans 5.vidic 6.carrick 7:valencia 8.fellaini 9.rooney 10.kagawa 11.nani
1, 2,4,6,3, 16,11 26,31,10, 20
Moyes will be happy with a point and so I think he will start with five in the middle and one up front.
Your selections are close to mine though I prefer Chicharito as a lone striker to Rooney. Let Rooney play a deeper role.
De Gea
Raphael, Evans,Vidic, Evra
Valencia, Carrick, Fellaini, Rooney, Cleverley
Hernandez
There is obvious favoritism from Moyes if he starts Welbeck, the player is only good at running around the field without providing any major impact. Rooney should start on the left and let Kagawa sit in the hole, whilst Nani on the right. Valencia should replace Cleverly in the middle similar to his role with Ecuador. The suggested formation 4-5-1:
Rafael Smalling Vidic Evra
Nani Valencia Kagawa Felaini Rooney
RVP
Get rid of all the old timers so that we are not overrun in the midfield and most importantly shouldn’t start Giggs even if he is set for breaking some personal records. If Giggs starts, we will most likely lose.
De Gea
Rafael Evan Vidic Evra
Carrick Cleverley Fellaini
Kagawa Rooney
RVP
4-4-1-1
Bad things will happen if Evans and Nani are in the starting eleven.
Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra
Valencia, Kagawa, Fellaini, Carrick
Rooney
Van Persie
Sell Nani, Young, Anderson and Evans!!!!
4-3-3
DDG
Rafael Vidic Evans Evra
Nani Carrick Kagawa
Ronney Hernandez van Persie
Hope Moyes will field this:
De Gea
Rafael Evans Vidic Evra
Fellaini Jones
Nani Kagawa Rooney
Persie
Hope Moyes will do 4 – 2 – 3 – 1 formation
de Gea
Rafael Evans Vidic Evra
Jones Fellaini
Nani Kagawa Rooney
Persie
Rafel vidic evans evra carrick claverly valencia nani rooney rvp
For me
de gea
rafael,vidic,evans,evra
valencia,carrick,fellaini,nani,rooney,chicharito
sub coming:januzaj(nani)
van persie(chicharito)
and finall last ten minutes remaining bring giggs.
United win 2-0 if they continue focusing and play well football as a team then 3-0.
De gea
Rafel , Evans , Vidic, Evra
Valencia, cleveley, carrick , kagawa
Rooney , Vanpersi.
To all united fans guyz we will win today after i saw which player moyes likely to start in man utd official website. With player like rafael,vidic,evra,valencia,carrick,fellaini,nani or welbeck he don’t know rooney and van persie or chicharito. We such experience player we will win and after the match we will comment tomorrow here in this to discuss that i was right or not.
Pls don’t play welbeck….he makes me sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My opinion is 4-2-3-1 that de gea,rafeal,vidic,evans,evra,
carrick,fellani
Valancie kagawa nani
Rooney
united fans we have to b patient jst for d main tym…I prefer dis starting XI.. Evra,evans,vidic,rafael…nani,fellaini,carrick nd kagawa…rooney,rvp…
dis formation is ridiculous ……
Rafa rio vidic evra
nani carrick fellaini kagawa
rvp rooney
D,gea-Rafael-vidic-evans-evra-valencia-carrick-fellaini-nani-kagawa-rooney period sub valencia (chicha) and moyes to celebrate!
De gea,rafael,evra,evans,vidic,fellaini,carrick,kagawa,rooney,rvp en valencia
Hhh man u too big for moyes
De gea
Rafel evans vidic evra
Nani carrick fellaini valencia
Rooney van persie
For me moyes shuld use 4 4 2 4rmation: d gea rafel evans vidic evra valencia carrick fellain nani
rooney vp
De gea, rafeal, evra, vidic, evans, carrick, fellaini, valencia, kagawa, nani and rooney
To me the formation should be 442, thats De Gea, Ralphael, Evans, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, kagawa, Nani, Rooney and RVP.
The team are clearly getting dominated in midfield, even against WBA in the 2nd half. Hopefully Moyes will see this and revert to a solid 451 with good old fashioned United counter attacking football.
The team needs a strong midfield so should be something like:
DDG
Smalling, Vid, Evans, Evra
Valencia, Cleverley, carrick, Fellaini, well beck
Rooney
Just see..
de gea,rafeal,vidic,jones,evra,carrick,fellani,kagawa,zaha,rooney and rvp.if moyes use this team i believe united we get a good result.
If Moyes must win.he must play DDG rafael Evans vidic evra Carrick fellaini valencia kagawa nani and Rooney 4-2-3-1
let Moyes plays
DDG
rapheal ,vidic,evra
jones,carrick
nani,kagawa,felaini
ronney
chicharito.
The he subs chicharito with rvp na brings clevery to add quickness in the game in place of fellain. We dont need 2 centre half when jones is @ the middle of the park,he wil always come to cover for him.
If they play get the ball and in the net as direct and soon as poss footie,instead of skaredypants,mind my hairstyle defending .Dont matter what team of apes plays.Lets face it the standard has dropped with all the passing.LittleRafael does,nt mind getting up there and having a shot at it.Think Nani and Valencia are in some sort of hypnotic state,they can both go past defenders and have a crack at goal.Why aint it appening?
Ths is de best formation for united dat can gve us glory in any level.let us change old traditn of 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1moyes change to 4-3-3 so here is de formatn-de gea rafael evans vidic evra
Kagawa carrick fellaini(cleverley)
Nani van persie roney.then we cn win any game and let change valencia 2 cntre midfield so dat he wll win ball for us lyk dat or ramires
YES new tactics and movin and groovin,soon as they loose the ball,get 3 players there quick on the job,soon as attack more in box.Get them to at least try and earn those huge wages.
Who’s that Fellaini??
Fellaini is a shit player. He is not a world class player.
what is this formation.
This is the best team we have for now,degea. Rafael. Evans. Vidic. Evra. Carrick. Fellaini. Nani. Kagawa. Rooney. Rvp. The rest are only trying,with this team manutd can go a long way this season,when this guys are in hot form or adapt to each other style of play,they will destroy any team we have vision with kagawa to feed wazzer nd rvp,we hav nani to dribble and contribute a lot to the attack,he can score goals and he always attempt to do when ever he s on the pitch dou he waste chances by doing dis,but against wba he ws superb we v got carrick and fellaini to hold the center and read game,sometimes rooney could drop to the center so that fellaini can go forward and contribute to the attck,nd when we hav rafael and evra who both are good attackers with speed and nice square plays,hungry evans with experience vidal,degea will always be our best stopper,the best pfa keeper last season. Best team so far we v got.
the problem is the coaching staffing very inexperienced , lack confidence and the club is too big for them! whoever plays , there is lack of motivation from the coach,,, he is too small even to players! this year empty handed come may
Playing Fellaini means Shakhtar Donetsk has a chance to win tonight!
best lineup
best line up, against man city in the second half we did better.
i think d.mys he d’nt hav the confdnc and idea why that team a team it be like that ddg,rafael,evra,vidic,evans,carrick,cleverley,nani,kagawa,rooney,rvp i think it will be dat
I am telling everyone here if Moyes wants to introduce Welbeck for the starting line up it is proven Moyes is a true failure. I do not see how he would be sensible to grade Welbeck better than Januzaj…Hernandez..Zaha..Kagawa. Moyes has confirmed Zaha is not with the squad. Is this another lie from him just for the interset of Moyes to include this player good for nothing….Welbeck?????? There is no place for him in the United squad. Sell him……
les forget abt danney welback & use another prs
I HATE HOW D GUY USE 2 PLY BALL
De ger
Rafel–Evance– Vidic– Evra
Velencia Carrick–Cleverly–Fellani
Rooney. Ver per sea
whatever formation we use tonight, the fact remains that we shall win. Man u for life!
Jst put rooney rvp at e front dem kagawa behind them., rio shud b sold luk at e goal we ve consided hz involvd. Y being a racist zaha desev a place
Tranfer wish for man utd fans SELL MOYES nd BUY KLOPP. Coachs from poor clubs coch in a poor way, My grany ma coch lyk him also
The line up in order to win the game dis night
degea
rafael jones vidic evra
valencia carrick clevery kagawa
rooney
RVP
Agree or not..man utd should not have signed fellaini. If moyes continues with Kagawa, Nani, and Hernadez sitting on the bench..sorry to say that they will surely want to leave old trafford next season