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Ruben Amorim will once again be thin on the ground when it comes to choosing his Manchester United starting lineup against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Red Devils are, of course, without their captain, Bruno Fernandes, who is still out as a result of the hamstring injury he picked up away to Aston Villa before Christmas.

There are several other key players missing, too. Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt are still not fully fit, and it seems unlikely Kobbie Mainoo will make the squad either, after missing the last two games. Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui are, of course, at AFCON.

So, how could United line up against the Old Gold?

Man United’s predicted lineup vs. Wolves

For the first time in over a year under Amorim, United played a back four against Newcastle United in their last game. This can lead to some guesswork when it comes to figuring out the line-up against Wolves.

However, the eleven players on the pitch are all likely to be the same regardless of the system, which, for argument’s sake, will be a back four, given they started that way against the Magpies.

Senne Lammens will, of course, start in goal, and it seems like Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Ayden Heaven and Diogo Dalot will make up the back four.

Moving into midfield, there are few options for Amorim without Fernandes and Mainoo. Casemiro will, of course, operate in the pivot, and if fit, Mason Mount could well start next to him. That leaves recent academy graduate Jack Fletcher to play as a number 10.

As for the front three, Patrick Dorgu is a newfound option on the right. He scored a wonderful goal against Newcastle, which won United the game.

Matheus Cunha will play off the left against his former club, and Benjamin Sesko will lead the line, despite his goal drought.

There is one notable omission from that lineup, despite this experienced player being fit.

The man Amorim must drop vs. Wolves

There are a few more options for Amorim if he wishes to change things up against Wolves. Joshua Zirkzee is the obvious candidate to start, with Sesko someone who could drop out. The Slovenian has yet to find his best form in a United shirt.

It has been yet another poor season in Red for Manuel Ugarte. He’s never looked like the right sort of fit for the 13-time Premier League champions, and has struggled to cement a place under two permanent managers and an interim.

This season, he has only played 12 times in the Premier League, notching up a total of 477 minutes across those games. Given he played under Amorim at Sporting, you may have expected the midfielder to feature more, but that has not been the case.

Perhaps one of the main reasons for Ugarte’s struggles during his time at Old Trafford so far is because of his lack of quality on the ball.

He has chipped in with some assists during his United career, six to be exact, but he doesn’t offer much in possession.

His passing numbers in the Premier League last season really were underwhelming.

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For example, the Uruguayan international averaged 3.08 progressive passes per 90 minutes, which ranked him in the 18th percentile of top-flight midfielders.

Ugarte key in possession stats in 24/2 PL

Stat (per 90)

Number

Percentile

Progressive passes

3.08

18th

Key passes

0.5

13th

Passes completed

40.34

52nd

Progressive carries

0.81

23rd

Stats from FBref

Social media personality Liam Canning said just before Christmas, when United played away to Villa, that Ugarte “doesn’t even look like a Premier League footballer.”

That, of course, is on the brutal end of criticism, but the numbers certainly don’t reflect well for the Red Devils’ number 25.

Against Wolves, Amorim may well decide to drop his former Sporting man in favour of Fletcher, looking to add more quality on the ball in midfield.

Related Bad news for Mainoo: Man Utd could sign the new Paul Scholes for £52m

This Man Utd transfer target could add to their quality in midfield

Posts ByJoe Nuttall

ScorecardFile photo – Mithun Manhas continued his good form, ending day three unbeaten on 95•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Karaparambil Monish snatched a victory for Kerala as his five-wicket haul helped Kerala bowl out Saurashtra for 69 in their final-innings chase of 115. Monish claimed 5 for 46 as he ran through Saurashtra’s middle-order. Sandeep Warrier and Akshay Chandran supported him as they picked up two wickets apiece, giving away just 6 and 3 runs respectively.Saurashtra started the day at 16 for 1, requiring 99, but were soon reduced to 34 for 6 within the first 12 overs in the day. Saurya Sanandia and Jaydev Unadkat were the only players that crossed double-digit scores, providing Saurashtra with some lower-order resistance, with scores of 17 and 15 respectively.Monish’s 6 for 81 in the first innings, had him end the game with career-best match-haul of 11 for 127,
ScorecardThe run-feast at Jammu continued as Ian Dev Singh’s 115 and Mithun Manhas’ unbeaten 95 drove Jammu Kashmir to 325 for 5 on day three, in their reply to Goa’s 552 for 5 declare in the first innings.Ian Dev Singh shared a 100-run partnership with Pranav Gupta for the third wicket, reviving Jammu Kashmir from 9 for 2 to 109, before Gupta was bowled by Shadab Jakati. Mithun Manhas then combined with Ian Dev Singh to share a 156-run partnership, before Jakati once again broke a threatening partnership by having Ian Dev Singh caught behind.His captain, Parvez Rasool, soon followed as Jammu & Kashmir slumped to 300 for 5. No more wickets fell in the day with Manhas ending the day on a resilient 95.
ScorecardPacers Ravi Kiran and Chama Milind placed Hyderabad in a commanding position, as Tripura were asked to follow-on after being bowled out for 237 in response to the hosts’ mammoth 548 for 5. Both pacers picking up three wickets apieceArindam Das anchored Tripura’s innings, as they kept losing regular wickets, with a patient 73 before he was dismissed with the score at 158 for 7. Manisankar Murasingh’s lower-order 51 took Tripura past 200, before they eventually folded for 237.Tripura’s openers Virag Awate and Arindam Das ended the day at 25 for no-loss in their second innings.

Virender Sehwag has been named the captain for the Delhi Ranji team © Getty Images

Virender Sehwag will lead the 15-member Delhi Ranji team that is packed with nine batsmen and six bowlers, including four pacers. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) selected the team in a ten-minute meeting held at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.Although the captain and coach reportedly wanted to have five fast bowlers, the selection committee decided in favour of an extra batsman in Aditya Jain, who replaced Kunal Lal in the squad. Kunal, the son of former India medium pacer Madan Lal, has been named as one of the four standbys.The promising left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan has been picked as the fourth pacer along with Ashish Nehra, Amit Bhandari and Ishant Sharma.In addition, on the recommendation of the team management, the DDCA has selected five seamers who will train alongside the Ranji team during their home matches. The five selected are Pawan Singh, Parminder Awana, Suhail Sharma, Amit Sharma and Lokendra.The 30 probables, selected on September 16, have been practicing under the supervision of the coach Vijay Dahiya from September 19.Delhi begin their campaign with a home game against Rajasthan from November 4.Squad: Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir (vice-capt), Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Virat Kohli, Puneet Bisht (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Bhandari, Chetanya Nanda, Aditya Jain.Standbys: Gaurav Chhabra, Yogesh Nagar, Abhishek Sharma, Kunal Lal.

Cricket boards have to be consulted regarding player issues – Shah © Getty Images

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has rejected the ICC’s offer to speak directly to the Indian players regarding the Members Participation Agreement (MPA).David Richardson, the ICC general manager, cricket operations, had suggested that the ICC be allowed to deal directly with the Indian players regarding issues concerning them.”It has been made clear to the ICC that they cannot deal directly with the Indian players,” Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary told PTI. “They have to come through the board.”Shah added that the Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cricket boards expressed similar reservations on the ICC dealing directly with players.”Not only the BCCI, but Sri Lanka Cricket, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Bangladesh Cricket Board have said at the recent ICC meeting that on any issue related to the players, the ICC has to approach the boards first. As per norms in international cricket administration, any issue that concerns a player has to addressed through the respective board. Similarly, any relevant matter raised by the players is communicated to the ICC by the board concerned.”The MPA lays down guidelines and restrictions that the players must follow for ICC events, including those that deal with ambush marketing. While almost all the other ICC members are ready to sign the MPA, the BCCI announced last week that it would not do so it in its present form because it affected its commercial interests.Percy Sonn, the ICC president, had cautioned India that its chances of being the co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup could be jeopardised if they refused to comply with the MPA but hoped that an agreement would be reached. However, Shah said that the BCCI wasn’t very concerned, as the event is still five years away. He added that a letter had already been sent to the ICC, detailing India’s stand on the MPA.

The PCB can’t believe the much-feted Inzamam didn’t make the World XI © Getty Images

Saleem Altaf, the director of cricket operations of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), will take up the issue of Inzamam-ul-Haq’s exclusion from the Super Series squads at the ICC Chief Executive’s Committee meeting in Dubai starting on Sunday. The ICC Super Series will involve matches between Australia and a World XI, to be played in Australia in October.Abbas Zaidi, the PCB’s director of board operations, said that Altaf would not question the integrity of the ICC selectors, but would present Pakistan’s view that clearer methods and criteria were needed for selecting the World XI teams. “This is a follow-up to the letter we’ve already sent to the ICC outlining the outrage and resentment in Pakistan over the exclusion of Inzamam from the ICC World eleven Test and one-day teams that play Australia in the Super Series next month,” Zaidi was quoted as saying in , a Pakistan-based daily. “We are not asking the ICC to reconsider Inzamam’s selection for the World eleven squads but we are only saying it would be better if the ICC make its committees more broad-based.”Zaidi said that the PCB would ideally like to have a representative on the selection panel. “Obviously the PCB comes under pressure as to what it is doing to protect and promote its players and cricket at the ICC level when such a thing happens that Inzamam is not considered good enough for selection in either the Test or one-day squad,” he said. “[Altaf] would also stress on the need to have more country representation on the ICC selection committee on rotation basis with each country getting an equal chance on the committee.”Inzamam has scored 940 Test runs at just under 59 since the start of 2004. As a one-day player, he averages 46.14 with the bat in that period.

Ehsan Mani: encouraging words for England© Getty Images

Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, said today that he believed England should be allowed to stage the Champions Trophy in September as planned. There had been speculation, ahead of tomorrow’s ICC meeting in New Zealand, that England’s reluctance to tour Zimbabwe might lead to the tournament – which features all ten Test-playing nations, plus Kenya and the United States – being moved elsewhere.But Mani said that his view was that the tournament should not be affected by any bilateral issues between England and Zimbabwe – no matter how serious they were. “Clearly there are potentially very serious issues that need to be resolved relating to England’s scheduled tour of Zimbabwe,” he said. “I believe that through the Board and the ICC’s disputes-resolution process there are mechanisms in place for these bilateral concerns to be effectively dealt with.”However, it is important that these genuine issues between two ICC members do not spill over and impact on broader issues that could affect all countries, such as the venue for the ICC Champions Trophy 2004.”He concluded: “Ultimately this decision is in the hands of the executive board, and I will be guided by the views of the directors – but I will put forward my view that we should be seeking to clearly separate these matters so that we avoid confusing bilateral issues with multilateral concerns.”By an ironic twist of fate England’s first match in the Champions Trophy is scheduled to be against … Zimbabwe.

Pakistan’s final practice session prior to Sunday’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 match against Namibia will be held on Saturday at 10:00 hours at the De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis will later hold a pre-match press conference at the Stadium, at approximately 1200 hours. All media are invited to attend the press conference. There will also be an opportunity for vision and pictures during training (10:30hrs – 12:00hrs approx).Saturday, Feb 15: Nasser Hussain will hold a press conference at 1 pm (Meeting Room 2, Holiday Inn Garden Court, East London) ahead of Sunday’s match against Holland.England will practice from 2-5 pm at Buffalo Park, East London.The West Indies team will conduct a coaching clinic with the Easterns Academy under 19 players on Sunday 16th February 2003 at 14h00-15h30 at the Lords Cricket Ground, Mayet Drive, Actonville, BenoniThe players and management will be available to the media after the clinic.A South African media conference will be held at 13h00 on Saturday 15th in the Jacaranda Room at the Sandton Sun, Johannesburg.A free, broadcast-quality radio interview with Australian captain Ricky Ponting, ahead of his side’s second World Cup match against India tomorrow (15 February 2003), is available now on the Australian Cricket Board’s official online news agency,www.mediagame.com.au.

After seeing his side go down by eight runs to one-day kings Gloucestershire Gladiators in the Norwich Union National League, Somerset Coach Kevin Shine told me: "I’m very disappointed that we lost. We bowled and fielded well to restrict them to 219, but then batted disappointingly. This was a game that we would have hoped to have won."The coach went on: "in any game there are often a couple of turning points, and I think for us one was the catch that dismissed Peter Bowler when he was going well, and the other was when Keith Parsons was run out, just as he was getting into his stride."Looking ahead to next weeks’ match he said, "we’re now in the wrong half of the table, and need to be aware of this. We just have to pick ourselves up and get ready for Nottinghamshire Outlaws."

The strikes down the ground are high and sweet. His pull is whiplash-quick and the cut severe. So it’s not his strokeplay Jermaine Blackwood seeks to sharpen in Sri Lanka. It is his instinct to survive. “If I’m at the crease for a long period of time, I’ll be making runs,” is his belief.Blackwood has been among West Indies’ brightest emerging talents over the past 18 months, in which he has put together an encouraging record spanning 11 Tests. He averages 42.47 from 20 innings so far, and has runs against quality Test attacks.His maiden innings of 63 against the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult suggested West Indies had unearthed a good batsman. His excellent turn against James Anderson, Stuart Broad and England in the middle of the year, confirmed it. He hit 311 runs at an average of 77.75 in that series, having struck a first Test ton, then hit the winning runs in a chase that leveled the series.A relatively lean series against Australia followed, but Blackwood has rebounded in Sri Lanka, hitting 92 from 135 balls in the second dig in Galle, while his team-mates floundered around him. Blackwood says it was restraint that allowed him to unlock his attacking game, after having fallen for 11 in the first innings.”I made a mistake in the first innings playing to a ball outside the off stump that I shouldn’t be playing to,” he said. “After I get out I go back and rethink my innings. I got out there in the second innings and told myself I’m not going to play any balls outside the off stump early up. I did that and in the end I got a good result. I was trying to push into a century but in the end I get out in the last. I thought it was a good innings.”It is the kind of restraint he seeks to refine and reproduce. Sometimes hailed as a disciple of the destructive school of Caribbean batting, Blackwood said he is learning to incorporate prudence into his attack.”There’s one major issue that I’m still working on – shot selection early up in my innings. Once I’m past that early phase it’s quite easy for me. I used to play a lot of shots and loved to feel the ball on my bat. When I reached Test level I realised it’s much different because you get less bad balls in Test cricket than you do in first-class. So I need to learn to be much much patient. Once I’m patient I’m adapting to that very quickly.”Blackwood was among the few West Indies batsmen to survive long spells from Rangana Herath, and even ventured two straight sixes and a four in one Herath over, near the end of the Galle Test. His team has come to Sri Lanka with a poor reputation for playing slow bowling, but Blackwood is undaunted by Sri Lanka’s top spinner.”Herath is a wonderful bowler, but a bowler is a bowler,” he said. “Once he bowls a bad ball, I’m going to hit any bowler. If we can bat him out, it’s going to be much easier for us.”Right now my defence is pretty good, as you can see. Last game Herath was bowling brilliantly and I was batting easy. For me it’s about staying patient and batting more sessions. If I do that I’m going to score more runs. I just need to control my tempo while I’m batting and trust my defence.”Blackwood has not made a limited-overs debut yet, but said Tests had always been his dream format and remains his “pride and joy”. He wants a hundred in his next match, as every batsman does, but he has high hopes for his batting statistics as well. He averages 45.66 so far in 2015, with one hundred and four fifties from 14 innings.”I do want to get my Test average for this year up to 50,” he said. “For that I’m on the right track right now. My gameplan is very simple. If I see a ball to hit, I’ll hit it.  Choosing the right ball to hit – that’s what I’m working towards.”

Openers Steve Titchard and Steve Stubbings have recorded the second highestpartnership in Derbyshire’s history but their feat carried little relevancebeyond the statistical as their team’s Championship fixture with Kent endedin a tame draw at Canterbury today. Titchard and Stubbings battedundisturbed through the fourth and final day of the match to take thevisitors to a second innings score of 293/0 before play was called off inlate afternoon.Titchard’s unconquered 141 represented his highest score for his new teamsince his transfer from Lancashire at the start of 1999, while Stubbings’135 snared him a morale-boosting maiden hundred for the county. Bothplayed very straight – on and off drives were in abundance – but neitherthe pitch nor the attack posed too many terrors. It was a measure of theextent to which the match had lost any genuine meaning that Kent captainMatthew Fleming even found time toward the end to ensure that all eleven ofhis players received a chance to bowl at some stage of the day. The hometeam also took the opportunity of resting Rahul Dravid and Min Patel justafter tea, sending on substitute Ben Trott and physio Martin Sigley intheir places as the inevitable early finish loomed.By the time that the match was finally brought to a merciful halt at5:20pm, the teams had each taken nine points away from it. This a resultwhich leaves Kent entrenched in sixth place on the Division One table butwhich has seen Derbyshire relegate Hampshire to bottom position. It isHampshire which Derbyshire meets in its next match (beginning on Wednesdayat Derby). Kent’s players, meanwhile, stay at home to ready themselves fora clash with Leicestershire which starts the same day.