Key events
Teams in full: four changes for United, none for Ipswich
Gary O’Neil reverts to his first XI and sees no reason to change a winning team.
Man United (4-2-3-1) Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Tielemans, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Cunha.
Subs: Darlow, Mazraoui, Yoro, Martinez, Santos, Lacey, Zirkzee, Dorgu, Sesko.
Ipswich (4-2-3-1) Scherpen; O’Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis; Nunez, Lukic; Fatawu, Enciso, Maeda; Emersonn.
Subs: Walton, Furlong, Egeli, Kipre, Palacios, Ouattara, McAteer, Clarke, Akpom.
Rashford starts!
Marcus Rashford, who came on at half-time last weekend and played more key passes in 45 minutes than Bruno Fernandes managed in 90, is rewarded with his first start since he was frozen out by Ruben Amorim in December 2024. He replaces Patrick Dorgu on the left. Michael Carrick also shakes up his defence, bringing in Diogo Dalot and Lisandro Martinez, and in midfield Andrey Santos gives way to Kobbie Mainoo.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to the Arnold Mühren derby. It’s a game that looms larger now than it did before the season began. Then, it seemed like a surprising choice for the Sunday-teatime slot, but since last weekend it has looked rather shrewd. Ipswich hit the ground running with a win over Sunderland, while Manchester United slipped on a banana skin at Hull.
Michael Carrick still has his proud record of winning two-thirds of his matches as United boss (in both his stints). And one of the things his team did well last season was bouncing back from disappointment. After losing at Newcastle, they beat Villa at Old Trafford; after losing to Leeds at home, they went to Chelsea and won.
Gary O’Neil, though, has a 100pc record as manager of Ipswich – played two, won two. He made nine changes for the League Cup game against Leicester and still emerged with a 3-1 win. His first XI, now featuring Julio Enciso and Sasa Lukic, come to Old Trafford with nothing to lose.
As I write this, at half-time in the 2pm games, no club in the Premier League have lost their first match of the season and won their second (or taken the lead today). Can United change that? They badly need to, with a Manchester derby looming and an October fixture list that includes trips to Atletico Madrid, Leeds, Como and Chelsea.
For Ipswich, it’s the first of three games against the big names in 17 days. The other two are at Portman Road: Liverpool in the league on Friday and Arsenal in the Carabao Cup on 15 September. So this is just a warm-up.
Back soon with the teams.
