Manchester United conclude their post-season tour of Asia with a friendly encounter against the Hong Kong national team on Friday afternoon.
The Red Devils will endeavour to head into their summer break on a high after suffering a 1-0 friendly defeat to ASEAN All-Stars in Kuala Lumpa on Wednesday.
Match preview
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Man United head coach Ruben Amorim stated prior to Wednesday's match that his side were making a "fresh start" following a disastrous 2024-25 campaign, but the Portuguese will need to revise those words.
Indeed, the Red Devils were booed in parts for their lacklustre performance in front of more than 72,000 fans in Malaysia and they once again lacked a clinical touch in the final third, less than 24 hours after Wolves star Matheus Cunha was granted permission to undergo a medical ahead of completing a £62.5m transfer to Old Trafford.
A 71st-minute strike from Maung Maung Lwin was enough to inflict yet another defeat on Man United, their 12th since the turn of the year, which came a week to the day since they were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final, confirming that they will not play any kind of European football next season for only the second time in 35 years.
Man United's wait for consecutive victories goes on, as they have not won back-to-back matches in any competition since the middle of March, missing out on Wednesday against ASEAN All-Stars having previously beaten Aston Villa 2-0 at Old Trafford on the final weekend of the Premier League season.
Before heading off for a much-needed summer break and shifting their focus to pre-season in July, Man United will take part in one final friendly fixture which is reportedly set to earn the club £8m.
While the ASEAN All-Stars side was made up of players from several different countries, those representing Hong Kong have played regularly with each other on international duty and will therefore pose a slightly different challenge to Man United.
Ranked 153rd in the world by FIFA, Hong Kong were last in action in March when they played out a 0-0 draw with Singapore in the Asian Cup qualifiers, a result which ended their seven-game winning run in all tournaments.
Managed by Shropshire-born Ashley Westwood, who graduated from Man United's academy before representing 13 British clubs as a player, Hong Kong are preparing for their first encounter with Man United since the summer of 2005 when goals from Giuseppe Rossi and Dong Fangzhuo sealed a 2-0 friendly win for Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils.
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Team News
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Man United will be without injured trio Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui who have not travelled to Asia, while Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount and Matthijs de Ligt remain fitness doubts.
Out-of-contract pair Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen are both absent due to personal reasons, while Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot and Andre Onana will not joined the squad on Friday, the latter of whom has travelled home.
After using a total of 25 outfield players on Wednesday, including senior stars and academy prospects, Amorim is expected to give the vast majority of his squad a run-out once again.
Shea Lacey and Jaydan Kamason were two youngsters who made a lively introduction when they came on in the second half and both players, along with the likes of Tyler Fredricson, Jack Moorhouse, Tyler Fletcher and Sekou Kone, will likely feature in some capacity on Friday.
Amidst speculation about their futures at Man United, Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes both played the entire second half on Wednesday and they could be involved again this time around.
As for Hong Kong, 23 of the 24 players in their squad play their club football in their homeland, while forward Michael Udebuluzor plies his trade in the German fifth division with VfR Mannheim.
Lee Man FC forward Wong Wai is the most-capped player (55) in their squad and could feature in attack, while Brazilian-born winger Everton Camargo is also in contention to start and has scored nine goals in 17 international appearances.
Hong Kong possible starting lineup:
Tse; Yue, Gerbig, Helio, Sun, Tan, Fernando, Ngan, Everton, Wong, Udebuluzor
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Bayindir; Fredricson, Kamason, Heaven; Diallo, Mainoo, Collyer, Amass; Moorhouse, Fernandes; Obi
We say: Hong Kong 0-2 Manchester United
Amorim will be seeking a collective response from his players, even if they are not entirely happy to be over 6,000 miles away from home soil. Hong Kong can take confidence from Man United's underwhelming display last time out, but a much-rotated Red Devils outfit will still be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top.
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Oliver Thomas
