📅 September 6, 2026

Same Eleven, No Sesko: Carrick Names an Unchanged United at Everton

By Mav Jones · Manchester United fan writer

Team sheets are in at Hill Dickinson, and Michael Carrick hasn’t touched his. The eleven that beat Ipswich 5-2 last Saturday starts again at Everton, which means Matheus Cunha leads the line and Benjamin Sesko is on the bench for the third game running.

United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Mainoo, Tielemans; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Cunha.

Bench: Darlow, Heaven, Mazraoui, Yoro, Santos, Dorgu, Mount, Sesko, Zirkzee.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Rohl, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Armstrong; Johnson, Dewsbury-Hall, George; Barry.

Bench: Travers, Maitland-Niles, Keane, Grealish, O’Brien, Dibling, Alcaraz, Hackney, Graham.

The first unchanged side of the season

This is the first time Carrick has named the same eleven twice this season. The team that lost at Hull had Heaven for Martinez, Mazraoui for Dalot, Santos for Mainoo and Dorgu for Rashford, with Shaw at right-back. Four of those changed for Ipswich, United scored five, and the coach has done the obvious thing and kept it.

It’s also a statement about the midfield. Carrick spent Friday’s press conference being asked how Baleba, Santos and Tielemans fit around Kobbie Mainoo, and the answer on the team sheet is that Santos waits. Mainoo and Tielemans are the pair again, Bruno plays off Cunha, and Mount’s return gives Carrick a different kind of change from the bench than he’s had all month.

No Sesko, and he told us why

We picked Sesko to start this one. The case was that Everton sit in a 4-4-2 block and a runner in behind stretches it in a way a false nine doesn’t. Carrick has gone the other way for the third game in a row, and he was clear about it on Friday. “Ben, he’s improving his fitness all the time. He had some time off, which was important that we give him the time to make sure it was right moving forward and no setbacks.” Then the line that decides today’s team: “Just being patient with him really and looking after him as well, and letting him grow into the season.”

Sesko hasn’t started a game since the shin injury he picked up against Liverpool in May. He missed pre-season and has two substitute appearances this season. He also scored the winner on this ground in February, on 71 minutes, off the bench, from a Mbeumo pass on the counter. That’s the template. Cunha drops in and links for an hour against a tiring block, then Sesko attacks the space behind Tarkowski and Branthwaite when it opens. If it’s still level after 60 minutes, the substitution makes itself.

The risk is the one we flagged before Ipswich. With Cunha dropping off, nobody pins Everton’s centre-backs, and Tarkowski in particular is free to step into midfield and to attack every set piece at the other end. He scored the stoppage-time equaliser at Bournemouth from a corner last week. United conceded both goals at Hull from set pieces. That’s the part of this game the team sheet doesn’t fix.

Rashford against Rohl, again

The matchup we wanted is on. Marcus Rashford starts on the left for the second game running, and Everton’s right-back is still Merlin Rohl, a midfielder who has started every league game there because David Moyes bid for several right-backs in the summer and got none. Rashford’s first start since his return produced a goal and an assist in the Ipswich game. This is the one-against-one that decides how much of the afternoon United spend in Everton’s half.

On the other flank Diogo Dalot keeps his place behind Mbeumo. Mykolenko doesn’t overlap the way Leif Davis did for Ipswich, so the space United found on the right last week won’t be there by default. Mbeumo will have to make it.

Mount in, Lacey out

Mason Mount is in a matchday squad for the first time this season. He hurt his foot against Paris Saint-Germain in early August and has been out for almost a month. Carrick said on Friday he’d “been training now for a good number of days”, and a place on the bench is exactly what that sounded like. Shea Lacey, who has been in recent squads, drops out to make room. Amad, Baleba, de Ligt and Ugarte remain out. Baleba is still targeting the Brighton cup tie on 16 September.

Zirkzee is on the bench a week after United refused Everton’s loan bid for him. He’s yet to play a minute this season, and Carrick said Friday he “wants to play more than he has done”. A cameo against the club that tried to sign him would be a neat way to start.

Everton: one change, Grealish waits

Moyes makes one change from the draw at Bournemouth. Brennan Johnson comes in for Iliman Ndiaye, who joined Manchester City on deadline day, and slots into the front three with Dewsbury-Hall and Tyrique George behind Thierno Barry. Barry is the only senior striker Everton have left after Beto went to Fiorentina and the Balogun deal collapsed on a medical.

Jack Grealish is on the bench for what would be his first appearance since coming back on loan. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the other deadline-day arrival, is alongside him. Christian Norgaard is Everton’s only absentee, still waiting for his debut with a groin problem. Everton are unbeaten on four points. United have three. Kick-off is 9 AM Eastern on USA Network, and the match report is here: 2-2, Sesko scored, Maitland-Niles equalised in the 96th minute.

Sources: Confirmed line-ups and benches from The Peoples Person (6 Sep 2026), Fantasy Football Scout (6 Sep 2026) and manutd.com’s team news (6 Sep 2026), which agree on both squads. Hull line-up from our match report. Carrick quotes from his pre-match press conference of 4 September 2026 via The Peoples Person’s full transcript. Mount’s injury: Carrick’s press conference and Yahoo Sports (5 Sep 2026). Sesko’s February goal: Flashscore match report (Feb 2026). Everton’s deadline day: BBC via Yahoo, NBC Sports. Accurate as of kick-off, 6 September 2026. Correction, same day: an earlier version gave Everton’s right-back as Sebastian Rohl. He is Merlin Rohl, and a midfielder rather than a winger.