Manchester United will go head to head with A-League side Melbourne Victory for the first time in the history of both clubs today. The match will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is where United will face Premier League side Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
This is United’s sedans pre-season match of the summer, opening the campaign against North West rivals Liverpool at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, beating them 4-0. The goals came from Jadon Sancho, Fred, Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellistri.
It is expected that United manager Erik ten Hag will make wholesale changes in this match as players will need to get minutes under their belt for the start of the Premier League season in just over three weeks time with United welcoming Brighton and Hove Albion to Old Trafford on the 7 August.
The news continues to develop in what will happen to Cristiano Ronaldo this summer with the player not likely to be involved in the pre-season matches this summer. United are also close to closing a deal for Lisandro Martinez from Ajax and are still seeking to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona.
Manchester United
Heaton;
Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw;
Fred, McTominay;
Sancho, Fernandes, Elanga;
Martial
Substitutes
Bishop, Kovar; Bailly, Malacia, Telles, Wan-Bissaka, Laird, Fish; Amad, Pellistri, van de Beek, Hannibal, Savage, Iqbal; Rashford, Chong, Garnacho
Melbourne Victory
Izzo;
Timotheou, Marchán, Roderick, Broxham;
Brillante, Barnett;
Ikonomidis, Brimmer, Folami;
Nigro
Substitutes
Acton, Taleb, Lupancu, Nani, Adams, Menelaou, Wilson, Kirdar, Prso, Juric, Velupillay, Brooks
Melbourne Victory recently announced the signing of former Manchester United winger Nani, who has also played for Sporting CP, where United signed him from, Fenerbahce, Valencia, Lazio, Orlando City and Venezia. Nani made 229 appearances for United, scoring 41 goals and 73 assists.
During his time at United, Nani, now 35, won four Premier League titles, two Football League cups, four FA Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup. The former Portuguese international made 112 appearances for his country, scoring 22 goals and 22 assists.
It is expected that Nani could feature against his former club, which will be for the first time and it would be good to see the winger back in action seven years after leaving the Old Trafford club. United will be seeking to continue their pre-season tour in fine form.
With Crystal Palace coming up on Tuesday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Aston Villa in Perth the following Saturday at the Optus Stadium, United will then head back to Europe to face Atletico Madrid at the Ulleval Stadium in Oslo and Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford.
Written by John Walker
