Top 3: United players to star in this round of EURO fixtures

Manchester United are no stranger to seeing their talent flood the international stage, influencing games all across the world. 

This round of the European Championship group stage fixtures will be no different, with several already playing a starring role during their countries’ tournament openers.

Centre-back Victor Lindelof deserves a mention, who put in a UEFA Star of the Match performance and, alongside his Swedish teammates, managed to pick up a clean sheet and a point against Spain to kick off their chances of progression.

We pick out three more players who could light it up again.

Victor Lindelof put in a commanding performance amid speculation that Manchester United seek a centre-back replacement

Paul Pogba 

Enigmatic French midfielder Paul Pogba picked up the UEFA Star of the Match last time out as his side edged a 1-0 victory over Germany, although it could have been much, much more. Pogba played a delightful cross-field pass that picked out left-back Theo Hernandez to smash across the box and eventually be turned in by German Mats Hummels – the only breakthrough that counted, despite Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema having the ball in the net. His passing range was spectacular to watch throughout the entire game though, making everything look effortless while completely dominating his opponents physically too. They play Hungary next – who are fresh off a 3-0 defeat to Portugal – in what is the ‘easier’ of the three Group F fixtures. We expect Pogba to get in on the scoring act, adding to his already impressive overall game.

Paul Pogba celebrates after France netted their tournament opener via a Mats Hummels OG

Harry Maguire 

Centre-back Harry Maguire missed England’s 1-0 victory against Croatia to open the tournament through injury but has ruled himself in contention for their crunch tie against old rivals Scotland. The Three Lions didn’t miss him though, with impressive defensive displays across the backline – but with his ability to dominate an area, marshall a defence and create openings for others with marauding runs forward, we think Maguire could play a starring role in upsetting and overriding a talented Scottish midfield. We saw the 6foot 4in defender up in the opposition half regularly carrying the ball during the 2018 World Cup, and, if he does indeed play, we expect to see a lot more of the same on Friday.

Harry Maguire has been training with the England squad and declared himself fit to play

Bruno Fernandes 

United’s talisman Bruno Fernandes had a quiet game as Portugal rallied late on to take a 3-0 victory over Hungary, despite it being level with just minutes to play. However, they face Germany this time around and Portugal will require something more to get a similar result. Liverpool’s Diogo Jota also had a poor game and captain Cristiano Ronaldo won’t stand for it again, so maybe we will start to see the dynamism Fernandes can bring. We expect to see some splitting passes through Germany’s relatively robust but slow defence, and perhaps laying one on a plate for the European Championship record scorer to add to his tally of 11.

Bruno Fernandes lines up alongside former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, ahead of kick-off