📅 October 7, 2026
Manchester United Predicted XI v Tottenham: The Fulham Side, Unchanged
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The Manchester United team that drew at Fulham is the team that should start against Tottenham on Saturday, and there’s a simple reason: Michael Carrick doesn’t have many other options. Three weeks of international football sent five more players to the treatment room, and the two who were due back, Amad and Matthijs de Ligt, aren’t ready. The predicted eleven below is the Craven Cottage side, unchanged.
Old Trafford, Saturday 10 October, 5:30pm UK, 12:30pm Eastern. Carrick’s press conference is Friday at 1:30pm UK, so some of this will firm up then.
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Predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, MartĂnez, Shaw; Mainoo, Tielemans; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Rashford; Cunha.
That’s the eleven RotoWire published on Wednesday and the eleven SI’s lineup tracker has, and it’s the side that drew 1-1 at Fulham on 20 September. Nobody has a different goalkeeper, back four or front three. The only place the predictions could move is the double pivot, and that depends on one man.
Who’s out
Benjamin Sesko is the big one. He missed Fulham with a recurrence of the shin problem that cost him the end of last season, withdrew from Slovenia’s squad for tests, and there has been no return date since. Sports Mole lists him as a major doubt; the Evening Standard says his status is unclear. Carrick’s last word on it, after Fulham: “It was a pain in his shin. We’re not sure with him yet.” Until the club says otherwise, treat him as out.
Patrick Dorgu pulled up with a hamstring problem playing for Denmark and was sent home early. Given he lost three months to a hamstring last season, nobody is predicting a quick turnaround. Noussair Mazraoui was forced off against Lesotho with a back problem and hasn’t been given a timeline either. Both are listed as major doubts.
Matthijs de Ligt played in the closed-doors friendly against Lausanne last Friday, but the Manchester Evening News reported he’s unlikely to be selected for Spurs, and Sports Mole has him back “before the end of October”. The Champions League games against AtlĂ©tico and Como look like the realistic target. Manuel Ugarte (knee) and Tom Heaton (hamstring) are long-term. Karl Darlow withdrew from Wales and hasn’t been updated on since.
Who’s back
Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo both left the England squad before it met, which set off a fortnight of speculation. RotoWire now reports both as available, and describes Mainoo’s withdrawal as load management rather than an injury. That matches what Carrick said about taking him off at Fulham: “Kobbie played well, to be honest, so it was just more of at that stage of the game we’re trying to make something happen.” Rashford’s issue was a hip problem he’d carried since the summer; the Standard expects him to be fit.
Bruno Fernandes is the one to watch. He sat out Portugal’s game against Norway with a problem the Portugal coach said he’d been playing through, then captained the side and made two goals in a 4-2 win in Denmark. He’s expected to be available. Whether he’s being managed through it is the kind of thing Carrick will be asked on Friday.
Amad is back in group training after the ankle injury from pre-season, and the Peoples Person reports the club is hopeful he makes the squad. Group training isn’t a return date, though, and Sports Mole still has him as a major doubt. A place on the bench is the best case; a start isn’t being predicted anywhere.
The one real decision: Baleba
Carlos Baleba played his first minutes in a United shirt in that Lausanne friendly, eight days before Spurs. He was on the bench at Fulham and didn’t get on. Every prediction keeps Mainoo and Tielemans as the pivot and leaves Baleba among the substitutes, and the logic is fitness: one closed-doors friendly after two months out isn’t a Premier League start.
The case for starting him is the same one that got him signed. United have conceded through the middle all season, and the pivot that drew at Fulham is the pivot that let in two at Everton. If Carrick thinks the ankle is right, Baleba for Mainoo is the change that makes sense, with Mainoo kept fresh after a break he spent at Carrington. Our guess is he waits a week and gives him the second half at Atlético. But this is the selection where the predictions could be wrong.
What Spurs bring
Tottenham arrive bottom of the table with two goals all season, and Roberto De Zerbi has problems of his own. Jan Paul van Hecke, who had started every league game since joining from Brighton, withdrew from the Netherlands squad with a foot injury, and his availability is in the balance. Pedro Porro has a hamstring problem. Dejan Kulusevski, out since May 2025, is back in full training and this was the game pencilled in for his return.
United are 12th on five points from five. Neither side can afford this one, which is why it’s being called El Sackico in some quarters. On the evidence of the injury lists, United go in with the stronger eleven and the thinner bench.
The video side
The confirmed team sheets go up on the TikTok account about an hour before kick-off, with the headshot line-up panels, and the match clock follows. It’s called “Man United, for Americans”, and it’s where the line-ups and the arguments go.
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Sources: RotoWire’s preview (7 October 2026) for the predicted XI, kick-off time, the Rashford and Mainoo availability, the load-management line, the Carrick quote on Mainoo and the Spurs team news; SI’s Manchester United starting-eleven tracker for the matching predicted side; Sports Mole’s injury and suspension list (7 October 2026) for the doubt gradings, de Ligt’s end-of-October line and the Ugarte, Heaton and Darlow entries; the Evening Standard via Yahoo Sports (6 October 2026) for Rashford’s hip, Sesko’s status and the Carrick quote on Sesko; Stretty News (1 and 4 October 2026), citing the Peoples Person and the Manchester Evening News, for Amad’s group training and de Ligt being unlikely for Spurs; Yahoo Sports (October 2026) for Fernandes playing through a problem in Denmark; Sports Mole (October 2026) for van Hecke’s withdrawal from the Netherlands squad; beIN Sports (18 September 2026) for Kulusevski’s return to training; the Friday press-conference time from K24. Table positions are from the league table after matchweek five. The Fulham line-up, the Lausanne friendly and the Denmark game are from our own reports, linked above. Nothing has been confirmed by the club; Carrick speaks on Friday.