“Unless you need to rotate because it’s the rhythm of games” – Mikael Silvestre makes bold claim on whether Cristiano Ronaldo should start for Manchester United against Leicester

Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre believes there is no point in starting Cristiano Ronaldo against Leicester City, apart from rotating the team to keep the players fit.

The Red Devils have found some great momentum in the Premier League and have notched up two straight wins. Erik ten Hag's side secured a 2-1 win over Liverpool before beating Southampton 1-0 last time around. In both of those wins, Ten Hag played an attacking trio comprising of Anthony Elanga, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

Silvestre, therefore, does not believe it is right for Ten Hag to make any changes to a team in form and is looking good both attacking-wise and defensively.

He said on BettingExpert:

"You know in football form comes and goes, at the moment it’s all positives, attacking and defensively. A clean sheet against Southampton away from home, one goal, and they scored two against Liverpool. Unless you need to rotate because it’s the rhythm of games. You need to freshen up the legs and the players to be fully fit."

He added:

"Maybe that could be the reason why there would be a change. Otherwise, in terms of performance, the team is winning so I don’t see any reason why we could see Harry and Cristiano back in the starting lineup."

However, Manchester United have a long season ahead of themselves. The Red Devils are set to begin their UEFA Europa League campaign next week. Hence, Ten Hag will need to rotate the team to keep everyone fresh as United aim to compete on multiple fronts.

Cristiano Ronaldo could feature for Manchester United when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City on Thursday, September 1 in the Premier League. dlvr.it/SXZZrz

As things stand, Cristiano Ronaldo is behind the likes of Anthony Martial in the pecking order. The imminent arrival of Antony from Ajax is also bad news for the former Real Madrid and Juventus superstar.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still goalless for Manchester United this season

Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to score a goal for Manchester United this season. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, however, has barely got regular playing time this term.

Manager Erik ten Hag has benched the forward in three out of the four league games played this season and has given him just 153 minutes of action so far.

Despite Ronaldo getting off the bench in all of those games, he hasn't had any positive impact on the proceedings.

☝️ year ago today, @Cristiano returned to Manchester https://t.co/M3nMjyKap9

It is worth mentioning that Cristiano Ronaldo was Manchester United's top goalscorer last season. The Portuguese forward netted 24 times from 38 outings across all competitions.