Manchester United vs Burton Albion: Jose Mourinho braced to select strong side for Carabao Cup clash

Manchester United will begin their defence of the Carabao Cup by naming a strong team to face Championship side Burton Albion at Old Trafford. Romelu Lukaku and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who have started all five of the club's Premier League games, have been included in the squad for the game on Wednesday (20 September).

Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are also involved despite having played a part in each top-flight match this term. But goalkeeper David de Gea, defenders Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly and new signing Nemanja Matic will be rested, the five-time winners have confirmed.

United are also without Paul Pogba, as the France midfielder continues to nurse a hamstring injury. Axel Tuanzebe (back problem) misses out, while Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are nursing long-term knee issues. Scott McTominay is set to be involved after missing the Under-23's draw with Chelsea on Monday and Luke Shaw could make his first appearance of the season after an ankle problem, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Italian full-back Matteo Darmian is likely to stand in for Valencia against Burton having made nearly half of his starts last season in cup competitions. Despite United's ambitions being far greater this term, the 27-year-old hopes the club can retain the trophy.

"I think it's always difficult to defend a title, but we will try," Darmian told the official United website. "We want to win every trophy. When we are on the pitch, we try to win every game, and that's our main mentality. To play at home is always important and good. But every game is different and every game is difficult, so we have to be ready, we have to prepare well for the game and we have to win.

"Of course, to win a trophy is always important, because it's a very good feeling and helps give confidence to continue working hard and reaching our objectives. I think it gave us more confidence and it was good to win a trophy."