Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao could make their Old Trafford debuts as a new-look Manchester United take on Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
United have banked on Argentina winger Di Maria, who was signed for a British transfer record of £59.7 million, to inspire a fresh era of success in Manchester. Much is also expected of striker Falcao, who has joined on a season-long loan from Monaco.
Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo have been brought in together with Di Maria and Falcao, and all eyes will be focused on how manager Louis van Gaal can best use the players at his disposal. The Dutchman is confident the arrivals will help United recover from a poor start to the campaign.
“We bought five players and one player is on loan here and maybe we can buy him next season, and that’s Falcao,” Van Gaal said. “We let go [of] 14 players. How to fit in these players is not so difficult, I think, when you let go 14 players and only six players come in.
“They have to perform our philosophy [against QPR] and that philosophy is not so easy to perform. We have seen it already. But the players we have selected [in the transfer window] shall do that better.”
United have yet to win this season, with two Barclays Premier League draws and a loss to Swansea City having been registered together with a shock 4-0 League Cup loss at MK Dons.
The defeat to Swansea came at Old Trafford and Van Gaal, who is without Phil Jones (hamstring), Marouane Felliani (ankle), Chris Smalling (groin), Michael Carrick (ankle) and Ashley Young (knock), will be desperate to avoid a repeat.
Despite the sale of Danny Welbeck to Arsenal, United will expect goals to flow for the remainder of the campaign, with Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Falcao available.
QPR sit two places higher than United in the table after a 1-0 win over Sunderland last time out lifted them to 12th. The Loftus Road club are underdogs this weekend but manager Harry Redknapp has urged his side to take the game to United.
“Manchester United [have] got a formidable front-line,” Redknapp said. “It will be interesting to see how they gel.
“They’ve got a top, top team now. We’ve got to go up there and make sure we work hard and give them a really good game. We will be ready for it.”
Joey Barton could miss out with a hamstring problem but QPR, who are set to start former United defender Rio Ferdinand, could hand debuts to new signings Eduardo Vargas and Sandro.
Manchester United (from): Amos, De Gea, Lindegaard, Blackett, Blind, Evans, Rafael, Rojo, Shaw, Vermijl, Anderson, Di Maria, Fletcher, Herrera, Januzaj, Mata, Valencia, Falcao, W Keane, Rooney, Van Persie.
QPR (from): Green, McCarthy, Murphy, Caulker, Dunne, Ehmer, Ferdinand, Hill, Isla, Onuoha, Traore, Yun, Barton, Fer, Henry, Hoilett, Kranjcar, Mutch, Phillips, Sandro, Wright-Phillips, Austin, Taarabt, Vargas, Zamora.
Match Appointments
Referee: Phil Dowd Assistants: P Kirkup, S Ledger Fourth Official: A Marriner
source: premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 