Erik ten Hag 'will have to' make one big change for Man Utd's Aston Villa clash

Manchester United drew 3-3 with Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night, with Matthijs de Ligt enduring a torrid evening before being replaced by Harry Maguire

Owen Hargreaves has insisted that Erik ten Hag must bench Matthijs de Ligt for Manchester United's pivotal match against Aston Villa on Sunday. The Dutch defender had a night to forget as United squandered a 2-0 lead, eventually drawing 3-3 with Porto in their Europa League encounter, compounded by Bruno Fernandes' red card – his second in five days.

De Ligt's substitute, Harry Maguire, salvaged a point with a late header. Hargreaves, the former United midfielder, believes Ten Hag is now compelled to start Maguire at Villa Park, especially after a disappointing season start that could put the manager's job at risk.

"Harry will play at the weekend against Villa. I think he'll have to," Hargreaves commented. "De Ligt struggled today, Samu (Omorodion, who scored twice for Porto) is a super explosive and powerful player, but Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran... that's not going to get any easier. So he's got some big calls to make."

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Hargreaves also criticised United's overall defensive performance. "There was a lot going on," he observed.

"There were so many holes defensively. Manchester United didn't stop any crosses, and then to go 3-2 down after being 2-0 up was ridiculous. The middle part of the game was crazy. That's what it's been like for a couple of years," reports the Mirror.

His TNT Sports colleague Karen Carney echoed these sentiments, saying: "Manchester United fell apart. At 2-2, we were massively fearing for Manchester United. Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt were really really poor tonight and Casemiro as well."

Erik ten Hag, continuing to ask for patience, has stressed that his vision for the Manchester United squad is evolving. Speaking to TNT Sports, he made clear: "I don't judge us in this moment," and "I judge us at the end of the season. We are in the process. Just wait. We have to develop this team. We will work and continue. We will fight."

He additionally clarified that Marcus Rashford's half-time substitution was a tactical choice based on rotation rather than an injury concern.

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