Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has returned to the starting lineup for the Premier League fixture with Stoke City.

Lukaku has not started a game for United since suffering a head injury against Southampton on December 30 but after making a successful comeback against Derby County last week, the Belgian begins the match in the North-West.

There is also a start for Antonio Valencia after a spell out with a hamstring injury, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan does not feature in the 18-man squad after being linked with a possible switch to Arsenal.

Earlier on Monday, Stoke announced that Paul Lambert would replace Mark Hughes in the dugout at the Bet365 Stadium, but caretaker boss Eddie Niedzwiecki remains in charge for this game and makes seven alterations to the starting lineup.

January signing Moritz Bauer makes his debut at right-back, while Bruno Martins Indi and Josh Tymon are also drafted into the defence.

Darren Fletcher returns to face his old club, while Xherdan Shaqiri, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Peter Crouch all feature further forward.

Stephen Ireland makes his first start in a Premier League fixture since April 2015.

Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Shaw; Matic, Pogba; Lingard, Mata, Martial; Lukaku
Subs: Pereira, Lindelof, Rojo, McTominay, Herrera, Fellaini, Rashford

Stoke City: Butland; Bauer, Zouma, Martins Indi, Tymon; Fletcher, Allen; Shaqiri, Ireland, Choupo-Moting; Crouch
Subs: Grant, Wimmer, Afellay, Adam, Diouf, Ramadan, Edwards

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