Manchester United have one justifiable wildcard solution that could solve striker woes

Erik ten Hag's first Manchester United match in charge saw him spring a striking selection surprise and the Dutchman may need to do the same again to keep the Reds' Champions League hopes alive.

United are third in their qualification group after a 4-3 defeat to FC Copenhagen last time out left them with three points from four games. They travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray on Wednesday needing a win to retain a chance of reaching the knockout stages.

And they must travel without Marcus Rashford, suspended after his red card against the Danes, while Rasmus Hojlund is an injury doubt. The striker has hit five goals in four Champions League games this season but missed Denmark's international fixtures and faces a race against time to be fit for the continental showdown.

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If he misses out then the only natural senior striker is Anthony Martial, a player who is out of favour and has shown very little when called upon this term. The prospect of the Frenchman leading the line in a must win encounter doesn't fill many with confidence.

Ten Hag might look elsewhere, as he did on the opening day of last season when he deployed Christian Eriksen as a false nine against Brighton with Cristiano Ronaldo left on the bench. The plan didn't work as United suffered defeat but the Reds have perhaps a more obvious stand-in candidate just now in Scott McTominay.

The midfielder struck seven goals for Scotland during their successful European Championship qualifying campaign, placing him fifth in the goalscoring charts above the likes of Erling Haaland and Bruno Fernandes.

Only Romelu Lukaku, Ronaldo, Kylian