MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert – Wayne Rooney is only on the bench for Manchester United in Wednesday’s Capital One Cup fourth round tie with Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.
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Rooney has played a lot of football for Manchester United since the start of the new season and manager Louis van Gaal has opted to give the club and England captain some much-needed rest in this contest.
Also starting on the bench are Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Bastian Schweinsteiger, so too are Ashley Young and Ander Herrera.
With Rooney and Martial both on the bench for today’s game, James Wilson, Andreas Pereira and Memphis Depay all get the chance to impress their manager from the start.
Sergio Romero returns in goal, with David de Gea named on the bench.
Both Memphis and Romero started the season as first-choice picks, but were relegated to reserve roles.
Wilson, who will be making his first start of the season, leads the attack after returning from illness and Pereira and Jesse Lingard are expected to offer lots of very good support in the attack.
Daley Blind has been recalled to partner Chris Smalling in the backline, with Matteo Darmian, Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick also returning to the starting team.
Interestingly, there are no defenders on the bench for Manchester United.
Meanwhile, former England wide-man Stewart Downing has recovered from a rib injury and will start for Middlesbrough.
Also in the starting lineup for the visitors are Tomas Meijas, Carlos De Pena, Emilio Nsue and Kike.
Manchester United Team: Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Rojo; Carrick, Fellaini, Pereira; Lingard, Wilson, Memphis.Subs: De Gea, Young, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Mata, Martial, Rooney.
Middlesbrough Team: Mejias, Kalas, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter, Stephens, Nsue, Downing, De Pena, Kike. Subs: Dimi, Amorebieta, Clayton, Fabbrini, Jackson, Nugent, Zucolini.
