Como vs Man Utd: Martínez out, so De Ligt must start

Update (30 Oct): we got this one wrong. Como won 4-1. Nico Paz scored after two minutes and again on 57, with Anastasios Douvikas and Jacobo Ramón also on target. Joshua Zirkzee got a stoppage-time consolation. De Ligt did start, lasting until the 79th minute, but United were behind before he'd settled. Our 1-1 was nowhere near. The current team news is in our Chelsea vs Man Utd preview. The original preview follows.

Lisandro Martínez isn't in Italy and Michael Carrick says Matthijs de Ligt is ready. With Leny Yoro banned, that leaves one sensible answer for Como vs Man Utd on Wednesday: start De Ligt next to Harry Maguire in a back four, 11 months after his last game.

Carrick gave the team news at his press conference in Como on Tuesday evening (MEN):

"Bit of a mixed bag, we've got quite a few missing. Licha's is not that bad, but he is not with us. Kobbie, we're looking at another 10 days or so, and Luke a little bit longer than that. We have a bit of [illness] and injuries. Ayden is ill. Marcus is still feeling a hip issue that we're trying to overcome."

Kobbie Mainoo misses this and probably the next couple, and Luke Shaw is further off again. Carrick didn't say whether Ayden Heaven or Marcus Rashford made the trip, and we won't guess.

Man Utd team news: two senior centre-backs

Kick-off is 5.45pm UK time on Wednesday at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, live on TNT Sports 2. Here's where the squad stands as of Tuesday night:

• Out: Martínez (thigh, not with the squad), Yoro (suspended after his red card in Madrid), Mainoo (about 10 days), Shaw (longer than that), plus the injured Benjamin Šeško, Patrick Dorgu and Manuel Ugarte.
• Doubts: Heaven (ill) and Rashford, who the club say is "managing an injury issue".
• Back: De Ligt, who hasn't played since 30 November last year after back surgery.
• Kids: full-backs Harry Amass and Jaydan Kamason and centre-back Dan Armer trained with the first team on Tuesday.

That's Maguire and De Ligt as the only fit senior centre-backs for a Champions League away night.

He was also asked whether he regrets not signing a left-back in the summer:

"Listen, I think when we have injuries, you can always look at what could have been done and what we could have improved. I spoke to you about making the best of the window and the situation we had. And this man next to us [Andrey Santos] was a big part of that and I'm delighted to have him. Pat is injured and it's just the way it goes sometimes."

Fair on Santos. Soft on the defence. We've been on about the left-back problem for weeks, and it has now spread to the middle.

Como vs Man Utd: why De Ligt has to start

On Sunday we argued that if Martínez was out, Carrick should go back to four, and that De Ligt shouldn't spend his comeback learning a new system in Italy. Carrick has settled the fitness half of that:

"It's great to have him back. He's had such a long journey, 11 months or so. He's been patient and has worked hard. We're delighted to have him back, he's ready."

If he's ready, play him. The other options are Noussair Mazraoui filling in at centre-back again, which is how Leeds got at us from a corner on Sunday, or a teenager in a European away game.

The back three gave us our best half of the season at Elland Road, but it needs three centre-backs who win headers, and United have two. A four keeps Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot in jobs they know and gives De Ligt one partner and one side to look after. For us, that's the kinder way back after almost a year out.

Clean sheets are the real worry. United have kept one in 10 matches. Put that to Carrick and he didn't dodge it: "Yeah, you're dead right, I can't argue with that, you know?" He thought United defended well in open play at Leeds and lost out to a good set-piece side, which is true and is also the problem. De Ligt's best quality, for us, is attacking the ball in his own box.

Amass is the wildcard. "Yeah, for sure, that is why he's with us, he's right in contention. At some point players need an opportunity," Carrick said. We'd keep him on the bench for this one.

Our predicted XI

4-2-3-1: Lammens; Mazraoui, Maguire, De Ligt, Dalot; Tielemans, Baleba; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Amad; Cunha.

If Carrick sticks with three, expect Mazraoui on the left of it.

Fabregas's Como are no soft landing

Como are fifth in Serie A and in their first Champions League campaign. They beat RB Leipzig 4-1 at home, then lost 3-2 at Feyenoord last week. Both sides have three points.

Carrick played against Cesc Fabregas in the 2009 semi-final United won 4-1 on aggregate against Arsenal, and he was generous about him on Tuesday: "As a coach, the way the team is playing, it's clear he's got some really good ideas and he's created a really good team."

Fabregas returned the favour in his own press conference: "Last year he did really well bringing Manchester United back to where they belong, which is the Champions League, for the first time in many years, so not everything is that bad."

Carrick's answer to Ten Hag

This was also Carrick's first chance to respond to Erik ten Hag's interview with The Athletic, in which the former United manager said of the club's owners: "They are continuing the toxic culture". Asked whether he'd come across it, Carrick said: "No, I haven't. I haven't since I came back. The players, the staff, they've given us everything that they could give."

He also said he feels backed, and that he knows results are what make "everything flow". He was never going to say anything else. We still think Ten Hag was right that sacking Carrick fixes nothing, but results decide how long the backing lasts.

Como vs Man Utd prediction

Start De Ligt, in a four, and live with the risk. A rusty De Ligt next to Maguire is a better bet than a back three held together by a full-back, and United can bring the three back for Bournemouth when Yoro is free again.

Anything but a win in Como vs Man Utd makes it seven games without one. We'll say 1-1, with a goal from a set piece at one end or the other.