Mourinho To Make 9 Changes: Predicted Man Utd XI To Face Blackburn

Manchester United will be looking to book their place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup when they take on Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Sunday afternoon.

Here is the team I think Jose Mourinho will pick for the game:

Goalkeeper: Mourinho decided to start Sergio Romero during last night’s Europa League clash with Saint-Etienne so you’d expect David De Gea will be recalled this weekend.

Defence: Phil Jones could be back in contention if he shakes off a minor foot injury and I expect we’ll see some chances at the back with Marcos Rojo also coming back in to the side.

Luke Shaw’s only action recently has come in the cups so he could get a run out at left-back while Matteo Darmian could be recalled at right-back with Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly and Daley Blind given a rest after playing in the last two games.

Midfield: Michael Carrick wasn’t risked last night due to a minor muscle problem so I expect we’ll see the experienced midfield get a recall against Blackburn with Marouane Fellaini dropping out.

Ander Herrera will be suspended for the second leg of the Europa League tie next Thursday so there’s no reason he should start again on Sunday. However, Bastien Schweinsteiger is available should Mourinho want to freshen things up.

Attack: Wayne Rooney should be passed fit after not being risked last night due to a muscle injury and we could see him come in to the side in order to give Paul Pogba a breather.

Marcus Rashford should start after making a big impression off the bench last night and it would allow Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get a well-earned rest after scoring a hat-trick against Saint-Etienne.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is suffering from illness so we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s passed fit. If so, then he could replace Anthony Martial in attack but I expect we’ll see Juan Mata given a rest with Jesse Lingard coming back in.

Here is how we think United will line-up: