Ahead of the Manchester derby, there was plenty of speculation over what Jose Mourinho's starting XI would be. He revealed in his news conference that he had a fully fit squad following the international break, and that Henrikh Mkhitaryan was available to play his part.
The Armenian was subbed off with an injury when playing against the Czech Republic during the international break, and had therefore been rumoured as a doubt for the clash against Manchester City. It therefore came as a surprise when Mkhitaryan was named in the starting lineup at the expense of Juan Mata, who has been impressive so far this season.
While the Spaniard had been sold by Mourinho when the pair were at Chelsea, it was Mata who scored the first league goal in the Mourinho era, and who had played his part from the right. Mourinho will rue the decision to leave Mata out, though, following Mkhitaryan's performance against City. While he probably wasn't as poor as Jesse Lingard, another strange inclusion, he wasn't much better.
Time and again, Mkhitaryan lost possession, running straight in to City's defence, and had none of the impact he'd made against Hull in United's previous game. Mourinho claimed that with hindsight, he would have selected different players, but he probably should have realised the derby wasn't the right occasion to give Mkhitaryan his first start.