Burnley vs Man Utd live: Premier League team news and line-ups as Darren Fletcher takes charge of first match

United interim boss Darren Fletcher has been speaking to Sky Sports, and here’s what he had to say:

“I’m relaxed, I’m looking forward to it. I trust the players, we’ve done the work, we’ve prepped for the game fantastically.” he explained.

“We’re happy with how preparations have gone, and we’re ready to go, I’m excited to watch the lads go and perform.

“It’s important Bruno is back. This game was targeted for a few of the players coming back from injury, so we’ve got a stronger bench tonight as well.

“We’ve set them up in a way that we feel can win the match. It suits their personalities and styles. It’s up to them to execute it, they’ve got to take that responsibitiy, but I trsut them to do it,” he added.

These two sides have met a total of 138 times in the past, with United winning 68, Burnley winning 45 and 25 ending as draws.

The reverse fixture in August produced an entertaining match at Old Trafford, as United ran out 3-2 winners thanks to a 97th-minute penalty from Bruno Fernandes.

Ruben Amorim is gone and Manchester United are back in the sea of uncertainty. The solution to a 13-year problem – the search for a guiding figurehead post-Sir Alex Ferguson – remains as distant as it’s ever been.

Amorim arrived at Old Trafford to much fanfare off the back of a stellar reign at Sporting CP. He’d been courted by Liverpool as a potential successor to Jurgen Klopp before their hierarchy landed on Arne Slot. So when the Portuguese signed on the dotted line with the Red Devils in November 2024, there was hope that the then 39-year-old – a spring chicken in managerial terms – would be Manchester United’s future.

Instead, his 14-month reign of error leaves him with an unenviable legacy as the club’s worst permanent manager of the Premier League era. Overhyped and incapable of restoring the dereliction left by Erik ten Hag, the daunting task of stabilising once the ruling force of English football will fall into new hands.

It should be acknowledged there were sound football reasons for sacking Amorim. The football was often unwatchable and many results were unjustifiable, but league position shows this wasn’t irredeemable. And while the 1-1 against Wolves caused a shift that sparked serious discussion among the hierarchy on New Year’s Day, Friday appears to have brought the moment when an undesirable situation became “unsustainable”.

The feeling was only deepened after Amorim’s press conference at Leeds United, where some have since taken greater note of the specific managers the Portuguese referenced. “I know my name isn’t [Thomas] Tuchel, [Antonio] Conte or [Jose] Mourinho, but I’m the manager.”

Burnley picked up seven points in their first four home Premier League games this season, but have since won just one point in their last six, drawing one and losing five.

The Clarets remain winless in their last 11 Premier League games (D2 L9), only going longer without a win within a single top-flight season on four previous occasions.

The latest from Richard Jolly, who is in place at Turf Moor this evening:

“Darren Fletcher has named his first team as Manchester United’s interim manager and he has presumably had to deliver bad news to his son Tyler, who has dropped out of the squad.

“It is in part because he has four players back, in Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Harry Maguire. The captain starts, but the question is whether it is in Ruben Amorim’s beloved 3-4-3 or in a 4-2-3-1, which might mean Patrick Dorgu playing on the right wing.”

Darren Fletcher has made just one changes to the starting XI that drew with Leeds, with the former United midfielder boosted by the return of captain Bruno Fernandes, who comes into the side in attacking midfield, with Leny Yoro dropping out.

The biggest news is that Fletcher lines up with what looks like a more typical 4-2-3-1, with Casemiro and Ugarte in holding midfield and Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu as wingers.

Scott Parker has made three changes to the side that lost 2-0 to Brighton at the weekend. In defence, Hjalmar Ekdal comes out in favour of the returning Maxim Esteve, while in midfield Jaidon Anthony and Jacob Bruun Larsen are replaced by Hannibal Mejbri and Marcus Edwards.

Man Utd XI: Lammens; Dalot, Heaven, Lisandro Martínez, Shaw; Casemiro, Ugarte; Dorgu, Bruno Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko

Subs: Bayindir, Malacia, Yoro, Maguire, Fletcher, Lacey, Mainoo, Mount, Zirkxee.