Three places are up for grabs in Manchester United's FA Cup final XI

With Newcastle 3-0 up when they returned to the away dressing room at Brentford, the FA Cup took precedence for Erik ten Hag at Brighton.

Lisandro Martinez's substitution after an hour was planned, Bruno Fernandes was sensibly preserved and Kobbie Mainoo got a breather for the final 15 minutes. Those three will observe the national anthem on the Wembley pitch.

Sofyan Amrabat and Amad, also substituted, may be in the dugout. Their removals were likely more about managing workload. Amad had never started three successive games for United, never mind three within a week. Amrabat had not had a three-game run in the United XI since December.

Amrabat was playing his way into the cup final XI until the win at Brighton. He clocked 87 minutes against Arsenal and played the duration of the win over Newcastle, so perhaps those excursions contributed to his careless 69 minutes in Hove.

That has made one of Ten Hag's selections straightforward. Casemiro must go back into midfield with Kobbie Mainoo now United have cover at centre half.

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Martinez came through his 59 minutes unscathed, Raphael Varane got minutes, Jonny Evans is fit, Willy Kambwala was on the bench and Victor Lindelof participated in training last week. Keeping Casemiro at centre half would be illogical.

Varane and Casemiro are on their last legs and Saturday could be their last dance in elite football. Between them, they have played in seven Champions League finals and won all of them. United need two of the best in their position over the past decade to start in their best positions at Wembley.

Evans has had more playing time than Varane since his return at