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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Manchester United fans react as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer implements formation change vs Spurs

Manchester United fans are split on the starting XI Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opted for against Tottenham, with the manager changing to a 'back three' formation.

United are looking to make a strong response after they suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals, Liverpool, last week.

It looked as though the embarrassing display could be the end of Solskjaer's tenure in the Old Trafford hot seat but, despite the club considering his sacking, he has been granted a stay of execution.

In response to the defeat, Solskjaer has made just two changes to personnel but a big change to the system.

Only Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood have made way, with Raphael Varane and Edinson Cavani coming in, but the Norwegian has returned to a 3-4-1-2 formation - which has served him well in the past - instead of the 4-2-3-1 he has exclusively used this season.

While some supporters are intrigued by the change and think it was the right step to take, especially with Cavani partnering Cristiano Ronaldo upfront, others have their own issues with the starting XI.

Some have criticised the dropping of Rashford and the continued exclusion of Donny van de Beek, while others have pointed out that it is the same formation that Antonio Conte, the favourite to be the next United manager, regularly uses.

Man United starting XI: De Gea; Lindelof, Maguire, Varane; Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, Shaw; Fernandes; Cavani, Ronaldo.

Substitutes: Henderson, Bailly, Dalot, Lingard, Matic, Van de Beek Greenwood, Rashford, Sancho.

Tottenham starting XI: Lloris; Royal, Dier, Romero, Davies; Skipp, Hojbjerg; Lucas, Lo Celso, Son; Kane.

Substitutes: Gollini, Sanchez, Tanganga, Rodon, Doherty, Reguilon, Dele, Ndombele, Bergwijn.

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