Manchester United were at their pedestrian worst against CSKA and will be more than happy with the result, based on the performance.
The hope is that they are preserving their energy for the summit meeting with Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday (Kick Off 14:05 Local Time).
The 4-2 victory for Manchester United against their fierce rivals last season was surely their best performance and a similar showing would give them a serious chance of taking the title.
But they desperately need to inject more speed into their play.
To this end Memphis has to come back into the side.
He has been quite expensive with the ball at times in his formative career at Manchester United. But he does at least commit defenders and possess the sort of ground speed which can trouble the opposition.
Juan Mata isn’t the quickest but his quality on the ball will also be highly useful in the derby.
With Wayne Rooney still not hitting top form we think that Louis van Gaal should put him back at number 10, with Mata right and Martial up top.
The speed of the Frenchman can cause Manchester City problems if Martial is playing furthest forward.
In midfield Michael Carrick has been rested of late and should play alongside Morgan Schneiderlin, whose energy could be vital in stemming attacks.
And, at the back it’s Rojo, Smalling, Jones and Darmian.
So here is our strongest Manchester United eleven, which has a great chance of winning this game, if it shows its obvious quality.
Manchester United fans: Discuss
