When the teamsheets drop at the Etihad at 3.15pm on Sunday, Manchester United will likely have a deeper-looking bench. With only one senior player now out injured, Ruben Amorim has a strong squad to choose from.

The head coach has made rotation a theme of his tenure so far, and there will be changes from the team that started in Plzen in midweek. United's 23-man matchday squad in that Europa League fixture included 21 internationals, and Leny Yoro is clearly on his way to honours with France.

With only nine substitutes allowed in the Premier League, Toby Collyer is likely to make way. You would expect 19 of the 20 players named at City to be full internationals. The real intrigue will be who is on the bench.

It is a day for Amorim to name his strongest team and we might get an indicator of which players he thinks fit which roles best. Two starters likely to drop out from midweek are Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.

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The former is competing for a place in a strong area of the team, with only two deep midfield roles available. Manuel Ugarte is undoubtedly in Amorim's best team and Kobbie Mainoo is likely to start alongside him. Bruno Fernandes has also played the deeper role several times under the new head coach.

Rashford has two routes into the team, but so far, he has looked ill-suited for either role. His experiment as a No. 9 ended after one game, and the attacking roles behind a striker have also failed to get the best out of him recently. With many attacking options available, Rashford doesn't look like he figures in Amorim's best team at the moment.

Having Casemiro and Rashford in reserve highlights the strength in depth that Amorim has available to him, but it could also present a long-term problem, especially at a club that is trying to cut costs and rein in spending. They are the two highest-earning players at United, and to maintain that status, they need to not just be in the team but amongst the best players as well.

Casemiro has steadied his own performances this season, but the 32-year-old isn't the player he was in his first season after his £60m move from Real Madrid. As a serial winner at the Bernabeu, he commanded a big transfer fee and a high salary but lost his place as the first-choice holding midfielder to Ugarte.

Rashford earned a new contract after his 30-goal season in 2022/23, but his form has fallen off a cliff since then, and his future at Old Trafford is in doubt once again. Amorim did not react when Rashford came off after an ineffective performance against Viktoria Plzen.

If Casemiro and Rashford do find themselves in Amorim's second-string side, then United will surely be keen to offload both players next summer. They are earning in excess of £600,000 a week, which is just over £31m a year. That is a substantial outlay for two players who might not be starters every week.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been ruthless in cutting costs and increasing revenues since taking a 27.7% stake in the club in February. He will want a better wage structure for the first team, and that could make Casemiro and Rashford two casualties of the new approach.