Manchester United will host Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday night, marking the club's return to Premier League competition. Ralf Rangnick's team still has a mathematical opportunity to finish in the top four this season, but they are well aware that a win today is essential to achieving that goal.

Since a 1-0 setback to Chelsea in May 2013, United has gone unbeaten in their previous eight home league games against the Blues (W3 D5), keeping five clean sheets in that time span.

Early team news is that Fred Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, and Luke Shaw will all miss the encounter, while Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire will also be absent.

Here's how the MEN writers believe Manchester United should line up.

Samuel Luckhurst 

David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only two Manchester United players who are not selected to start by default.

Alex Telles, like Aaron Wan-Bissaka, has proven to be a disastrous signing for the club. Alvaro Fernandez has been long overdue a call-up to the first-team squad, and given the way the senior full-backs have been doing, he deserves to get the nod. Radamel Varane did not do a good job for Arsenal's first goal, but Harry Maguire is out and should not be called back right away.

Nemanja Matic will have to carry on. He should have been benched by Arsenal, when he was terrible once more. Hannibal Mejbri is deserving of a full-length debut.

Ralf Rangnick acknowledges Manchester United move over Champions League qualify.

Rashford begins in place of Jadon Sancho because Anthony Elanga has appeared to be starting every other game, and Rangnick has not been able to get a tune out of any of them. Alejandro Garnacho may also be able to join the team.

Fernandez, Mejbri and Garnacho start

Based on their present form, Manchester United would struggle to field a competitive five-a-side team, even if they were forced to do so. De Gea is deserving of the opportunity to play in goal, but his back line may just as well be a tombola given the lack of a proven formula for success.

Due to a lack of options, it is likely that Matic and McTominay will start in midfield against a quality Chelsea team, and their leg work could be the key to reviving Fernandes' career following a poor run of play.

In spite of the restricted wing options, Cristiano Ronaldo remains an indispensible part of the Real Madrid team. Hannibal and Garnacho are both deserving of starting places on the bench, but putting them into a game like this from the start could be a risky idea.

Tyrone Marshall 
There will be possibilities for teenagers to play for Manchester United in the remaining weeks of the season, but given the quality of the opponents, those games should be against Brentford, Brighton, and Crystal Palace rather than Chelsea.

At the moment, full-back is a complete disaster. Given how ineffective Telles continues to be, Wan-Bissaka and Dalot should almost certainly both start. Lindelof and Varane didn't exactly shine over the weekend, but with Maguire out of the picture, they'll have to make do with their place in the team.

Now that we know he's departing, it doesn't seem like much of a point to play Matic anymore. Instead, McTominay may play a number of games as a solitary holding midfielder, a role in which he performed admirably during the month of January. It will be beneficial for McTominay to be tested against a top-tier opponent while playing in a progressive midfield with Fernandes and Lingard ahead of him.

Garnacho should be saved for when the offensive chooses itself and needs easier opposition. At Arsenal, Cristiano Ronaldo put in one of his most complete games of the season, while Elanga was full of life. Rashford is a possible replacement for Sancho.

Steven Railston 

Following the Arsenal setback at the weekend, McTominay stated that United have 'pride' to play for in their last four games of the season. However, it appears that even that will be beyond the capabilities of the majority of the team's gutless playing group.

While Rangnick may be tempted to insert the youngsters into the starting lineup, United must ensure that they qualify for the Europa League, and doing so in a game like today may not be the best idea - there should be more possibilities in the coming weeks.

Despite the fact that Varane has been underwhelming at Arsenal, Lindelof and Varane can retain their positions in central defense. As a result of his poor performance against the Emirates, Telles should be dropped to the bench, which means Fernandez should make his senior debut.

Matic should play in a three-man midfield with McTominay and Fernandes, according to the coach. Sancho is unable to play in this game, which means Rashford will be forced to start by default, albeit this is something that most starting players at United are doing these days. It would be wise to bring Garnacho on as a substitute in the latter stages of the contes game.