MU faced Liverpool at Old Trafford in round 32 of the Premier League and coach Erik Ten Hag made some changes to the squad, in which midfielder Willy Kambwala started from the start.

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Kambwala is only 19 years old but will play centre-back alongside Harry Maguire in the match against Liverpool after Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans were injured in the 3-4 loss to Chelsea on Thursday. Previously, Ten Hag also did not have the services of Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof because of the same problem.

In the context of four central defenders unable to play, Ten Hag created an opportunity for Kambwala. This was the Democratic Republic of Congo defender’s eighth appearance at MU and his second start after making his official debut in the loss. 0-2 against West Ham in December.

Speaking about the decision, Ten Hag said: “I think he played solidly, you can see he has a bright future. Of course he himself has to try his best, but we clearly see his potential, so creating conditions for competition is normal.”

Kambwala joined MU 3 years ago when the Red Devils beat Liverpool in the race to sign this player from Sochaux. He was the captain of France U16, went through many more levels such as U18, U21 and started 6 matches in the UEFA Youth League at the beginning of this season.

After playing 84 minutes in his MU first team debut against West Ham, Kambwala came on for a few minutes in the 3-2 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day. Since then, he has been in and out of the Red Devils’ squad but appeared as a substitute against Manchester City last month.

In the match against Chelsea on Thursday, Kambwala came on to replace Evans and became the center of attention when MU was drawing 2-2. After just 1 minute, the Red Devils took the lead thanks to Alejandro Garnacho’s goal, but they collapsed again in stoppage time and lost 3-4.

Despite the painful ending for Kambwala and MU, the DRC midfielder put in a positive performance and now has the chance to impress once again in his first home appearance. He will play in the back line with Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the left wing and Diogo Dalot on the right wing.

MU only won 1 point in the last 6 points and ranked 6th on the Premier League rankings before the big battle with Liverpool. This can be considered a must-win match if Ten Hag and his team want to maintain hope of winning tickets to the Champions League, currently 12 points behind fourth-placed team Aston Villa but with 2 matches left to play.