How Man Utd will line-up at AZ Alkmaar with Paul Pogba left at home with ankle injury and Solskjaer set to ring changes on dodgy plastic pitch
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OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER is set to heavily rotate his Manchester United side for tonight's game against AZ Alkmaar.
Paul Pogba won't be risked on the plastic pitch of Cars Jeans Stadion with Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ashley Young, Anthony Martial and Eric Bailly all unavailable.
Alkmaar are currently playing at ADO Den Haag's home having had the roof collapse at their own ground during the summer.
And Solskjaer condemned the decision to pick a venue with a plastic pitch that he described as "not the best".
He told reporters: "I’m surprised they’ve chosen to play on this pitch when I’ve looked at it.
"I’m used to it from Norway. It’s not the best I’ve seen.
"It’s one of the worst ones I’ve seen for a long while. We’ve all got standards back home in Norway anyway. It’s safe, I’m not saying it’s not. It’s not the newest.
“I’m surprised that in this climate you have to use astroturf. It’s OK when you live in the North Pole like we more or less do in Norway and can’t play in March, November or December. But here, I’m surprised.”
Sergio Romero will take up his position in goal with David de Gea set to be rested throughout the Europa League campaign.
Across the defence, Diogo Dalot can drop into right-back and Axel Tuanzebe will move across to the central position after filling in on the flanks versus Arsenal.
Young left-back Brandon Williams was named in the squad travelling to the Netherlands and could feature after making his debut against Rochdale in the Carabao Cup.
Solskjaer's desire to rest his stars will likely see Scott McTominay benched for Fred, with Nemanja Matic continuing given the lack of reliable alternatives.
A decision has to be made in attack though with Marcus Rashford set to be rotated out for Mason Greenwood.
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Who accompanies Greenwood, who scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Astana, depends on whether the manager wants to use the opportunity to play youngsters Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes, or try and get Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira back on form.
Speedy winger Chong failed to impress against Astana and so could give way for the fit again Gomes, while Lingard moving out wide would allow Juan Mata a run in the No10 role.
The early kick-off in Group L, United will reveal their line-up an hour before the 5.55pm start.
