Manchester United go into Sunday’s home meeting with Ipswich still sorting out the shape of their attack and midfield. Marcus Rashford is pushing for his first start in many, many months, Mason Mount is in the mix for a return, and Carlos Baleba will not be involved after an ankle injury picked up in Austria.
United also need to answer the 2-0 loss at Hull City. Michael Carrick has a selection problem before a first home fixture that already has too many moving parts.
Rashford's case for a start
Rashford has only 1 Premier League appearance and 45 minutes for United this season, which makes the push for a recall easy to understand. When a player has been used that sparingly, any talk of rhythm has to wait until the team sheet changes.
Carrick told standard.co.uk: “Manchester United hope to welcome Mason Mount back this weekend, but new signing Carlos Baleba must wait for his debut.” That is the key tension in the selection call, with Mount listed among the players who will miss United's first home fixture and Baleba ruled out for a few weeks.
United's team news before Ipswich
The missing names are straightforward enough. Tom Heaton, Matthijs de Ligt, Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte will miss United's first home fixture, while Baleba's ankle injury means he will not be seen on a pitch for a few weeks.
Mount's most recent five Premier League appearances for United carry a 6.72 average, which at least gives Carrick a reason to look at him if he is cleared in time. Baleba's last five Premier League matches for Brighton averaged 7.06, so United are also losing a player who had arrived in decent form.
The fixture at Old Trafford kicks off at 4.30pm BST on Sunday, 30 August 2026. United sit 16th before kick-off, so the immediate task is not subtle: pick a side that can respond to Hull and start the first home game properly.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
