📅 November 3, 2026
Man United v Roma Line-Ups: Martinez Dropped, and He Shouldn’t Even Be on the Bench
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Lisandro Martínez is out of the team for Roma, and he shouldn’t be anywhere near it. Michael Carrick has made two changes from the side that lost 2-0 at Chelsea: Ayden Heaven comes in for Martínez and Kobbie Mainoo replaces Andrey Santos. Kick-off at Old Trafford is 8pm UK time, 3pm Eastern.
Martínez is still on the bench. He cost United the game on Saturday, he can’t be trusted any more, and he should never play for this club again.
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Manchester United (4-2-3-1)
Lammens; Dalot, Yoro, Maguire, Heaven; Baleba, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo.
Subs: Darlow, Heaton, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martínez, Amass, Santos, Tielemans, Mount, T. Fletcher, Lacey, Zirkzee.
The two changes
- Heaven for Martínez. Martínez gave away a penalty and was sent off within 83 seconds at Stamford Bridge. His ban only covers domestic games, so he was free to play tonight. Carrick has picked Heaven anyway.
- Mainoo for Santos. Mainoo came on for Baleba at Chelsea and sat alongside Carrick at Monday’s press conference. He starts next to Baleba, with Santos on the bench.
Leny Yoro starts despite the tendon problem Carrick said he’s been managing. Marcus Rashford isn’t in the squad. Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu and Benjamin Sesko were already ruled out.
Why is Martínez even on the bench?
Because of what happened at Stamford Bridge, he shouldn’t be. United were 1-0 down with half an hour to play and still in the game. Martínez was booked on 59 minutes for pulling back Morgan Rogers. Four minutes later, already on a yellow, he went into Wesley Fofana with his arm at a Chelsea corner, gave away the penalty and was sent off. Cole Palmer scored it, and a game United could still have saved was gone. We covered those 83 seconds here.
It isn’t a one-off. That was his second Premier League red card of 2026, after Leeds in April. After the defeat in Madrid last month he went on Amazon Prime and said he expected “more from our technical director”. A senior defender who loses his head on a yellow card and criticises the club’s hierarchy in public is a player the manager can’t rely on.
There’s no situation tonight where he should come on. Not to see out a win, not to chase a goal, not for an injury. Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Harry Amass are all on the bench, three other defenders who can do the job without the risk. Leaving Martínez out of the squad completely would have cost Carrick nothing.
We had him in our XI in our preview this morning. Carrick was right to drop him and we were wrong. He should go further: Martínez shouldn’t play for United again, and the club should move him on in January.
Carrick said on Monday he had “no concerns” about Martínez’s commitment. Commitment was never the problem. Trust is, and it’s gone.
Roma
Vásquez, Rensch, Mancini, Balerdi, Hermoso, Wesley, Cristante, De Roon, Soulé, Mora, Malen.
Subs: De Marzi, Koulierakis, N’Dicka, Ghilardi, Molina, Lulli, Pisilli, Di Nunzio, Castro.
Vásquez starts in goal and Balerdi comes into the back line, with Ghilardi on the bench. Pisilli and N’Dicka, both in the predicted line-ups this morning, are on the bench, and Donyell Malen leads the line. Dybala, Koné, Pellegrini and Svilar are all missing.
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Sources: Both line-ups and benches from the confirmed team sheets as shown in a match centre and Last Word on Sports, 3 November; the United XI also from The Peoples Person. The order of names isn’t a statement of positions: the sources disagree on where Dalot, Yoro and Heaven line up, so we haven’t said. Roma’s names are listed without a formation for the same reason. The Chelsea timings, Carrick’s quotes and the injury news from our earlier coverage. The Leeds red card from The Analyst and our match records; the Prime interview from our earlier coverage. The view on Martínez is our own.