The early starts have worked well so far for the Red Devils, resulting in consecutive 1-0 victories.
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Newcastle United take on Manchester United in the Premier League at 12:45 (BST) on Saturday.
Newcastle have invested £50million in the squad this summer, which McClaren labelled a clear “statement of intent” from the club’s owners.
Newcastle, though, remains without a win in the first three games under Steve McClaren, a former assistant manager at United.
Thauvin probably isn’t ready to start yet, but he brings game-changing potential to Newcastle’s attack both off the bench in this match and as a starter for the rest of the season.
Newcastle head to Old Trafford this lunchtime looking to end a losing streak of seven straight away defeats.
He said earlier this month: “I have a contract at Newcastle United“.
The denizens of Old Trafford have yet to truly impress this season, though, with their two wins being 1-0 matches that could easily be described as “scraped out” because of how hard they found things at times.
He enjoyed plenty of success at Old Trafford, winning three Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FA Cup (when they beat Newcastle in the final).
Elsewhere captain Wayne Rooney keeps his place up front despite coming in for a lot of criticism for his performances so far this term.
They followed up their opening-day 1-0 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur with an away win over Aston Villa by the same score line. Rooney has enjoyed playing against Newcastle during his career, having scored 11 goals against the Magpies in just 20 starts. Their fans will feel much better about the state of things if they can get a big win this weekend – but Newcastle won’t exactly be willing to make life easy for them.
Newcastle have added five new faces with Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba, Ivan Toney and Florian Thauvin all joining.
Midfielder Moussa Sissoko is also a doubt, after limping off at half-time in the game against Swansea with a groin injury.
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Sergio Romero will continue in goal for the Red Devil’s, with Louis Van Gaal saying David de Gea will not be picked until after the transfer window has shut.
