Marcus Rashford and Antony will want to start against Omonia Nicosia. 

Manchester United will be thankful to have the opportunity to try and make amends as soon as Thursday evening, despite being defeated by their cross-city rivals Manchester City by a score of 6-3 in the Manchester derby that took place at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Later this week, United will pick up where they left off in the group stage of the Europa League when they go to Cyprus to take on a team that is considered to be on the lower tier. The Cypriot side has already been eliminated from the competition after losing both of their first group matches, making United the prohibitive favorite to win both of their upcoming away matches in the competition.

United will be playing just their second game of the month of October, which is going to be a very busy month for them as they will have nine games to play in only 29 days. The trip will be the second game. It is a never-ending challenge for any club to manage, but United is in the enviable position of being able to rotate its players while still fielding a star-studded lineup thanks to their depth of talent.

Since Erik ten Hag has another away trip planned for three days later — a short trip along the M62 to face Everton at Goodison Park — the team that he chooses to start on Thursday evening is likely to provide a clear indication of his plans for the matchup with the Toffees just three days later. Goodison Park is located a short distance along the M62. United are under pressure to bounce back with a fury following Sunday's horror show at the Etihad; Ten Hag may not have a choice but to go with a stronger side than he first wanted to go with. Initially, massive changes were to be expected.

In the event that this turns out to be the case, you can be assured that the head of United will still be considering making some changes, even if they won't be made en masse. After all, players like Casemiro and Cristiano Ronaldo who were not selected to start against City will be jonesing for playing time because they were not included in the starting lineup.

Ten Hag chose to call on Ronaldo to try to spearhead the comeback of all comebacks, instead picking Anthony Martial to come off the bench. This was despite the fact that his team was trailing by a score of 4-0 at the half. He came on in place of Marcus Rashford and scored twice, allowing United to put a scoreline that was little more respectable looking on the board.

Rashford began the match in the middle of United's front three, with Jadon Sancho and Antony on each side of him. This was also the case when United faced Arsenal four weeks previously. The only thing that saved Antony from receiving additional criticism after the game was over was his amazing effort that brought the score to 4-1. Neither of them were very impressive throughout the match.

Sancho, on the other hand, was essentially a spectator for the majority of the game up to the point when he was substituted out for Fred with twenty minutes left to play. He was unable to provide Tyrell Malacia with the defensive cover that he so urgently needed, and he failed to make his imprint against the team he had previously played for.

It is because of this reason that Nicosia could pose a challenge to his position. Rashford, who has demonstrated time and again that he is more effective coming in off the left flank, might go out wide against the Cypriots, so allowing Martial to step into the No. 9 role. This would allow Rashford to be more effective coming in off the left flank.

The Frenchman has been directly involved in three goals despite only making two substitute appearances so far this season. He did enough against City — even though his goals meant nothing in the grand scheme of things — to put his name in contention for a starting berth, despite the fact that his goals were meaningless in the overall contest. During the preseason, he played an important role for Ten Hag and was frequently paired with Sancho and Rashford, both of whom were on the team's tour of Thailand and Australia.

Ten Hag has made it abundantly clear from the beginning that he favors a front-three that is endowed with pace, fluidity, and trickery. This means that a trio consisting of Antony, Martial, and Rashford at the top end of the field could work wonders. Despite the fact that United needs to put on a show and get a result for their fans on Thursday night after the derby, Ten Hag has the opportunity to experiment with different lineups.