Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has confirmed that back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir will start in the FA Cup third round clash with Arsenal on Sunday.
The Red Devils go to the Emirates this weekend looking to build on their impressive performance in the 2-2 draw at Liverpool last week.
It may have only been a point in the Premier League, but it was a much-improved performance from Amorim’s side and a morale boost against the league-leaders at Anfield.
The Manchester United manager says he plans to put out his best team against the Gunners, although that will not include Andre Onana.
Asked specifically about which goalkeeper he will choose, the boss said: ‘That is a special position, it is a very good question, he’s going to play, Altay.’
Bayindir is yet to make a Premier League appearance during his time at Old Trafford since arriving from Fenerbahce in 2023.
He made one FA Cup appearance last season and has played three times in the Carabao Cup this campaign, including a difficult outing last month in a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham.
The Turkey international is clearly not first choice, but other than in goal, Amorim says he will be fielding his strongest team possible.
‘I think we have to put the best team, we have to win and we have to follow the last performance,’ he told a press conference on Friday. ‘We are in a difficult moment, we are improving, let’s put the best team to try to win.
‘We had time to train, to rest, so I will choose the best team to win because we want also to win the cup.
‘In the cup, you never know. Sometimes it’s better to win this type of game and then you have less time to rest but your mind is so different you can cope with the physical aspect of the game.
‘My focus is day-by-day, we want to win this one and then we’ll think about the next one.’
Amorim made a lot of changes to his team in the first few matches in charge of Manchester United, but says he will be picking a more consistent starting XI after that initial spell.
‘I think we rotate more in that part where we were trying to find out what kind of player do we have,’ he said.
‘Then a lot of players were returning from injuries, now we are rotating less. I feel that sometimes I have to choose fresh legs because I look at same players in the best position and I feel they are at the same level so I try to put some fresh legs [in].
‘Now we had time to train a little bit more, I expect our team to understand better the game. We try to work on set pieces, we suffered a lot in the last game.
‘So we will see. I don’t rotate because I want to rotate. I’m trying to find the best solutions to win every game. Sometimes I have doubts about which player to put and then I put the guy who is more fresh to cope with the demands of the game.’