Juan Mata will start his first game for Manchester United since January 17 , as Louis van Gaal looks to shake things up against Tottenham . Mata , having joined the club for £37.1million in January 2014 , has struggled to make an impact since the turn of the year , only making three starts . His last appearance in Van Gaal 's starting XI came on January 17 against Queens Park Rangers , but since then he has only made four fleeting appearances off the bench . Juan Mata ( right ) , pictured in training last week , will start his first game for Manchester United since January . Mata 's last starting appearance for Manchester United came against Queens Park Rangers on January 17 . Van Gaal has made three changes to his United team from the side that faced Arsenal in the FA Cup on March 9 . He said of Mata 's inclusion : 'Mata has played there a long time also with Chelsea . 'He is the same type of player as [ Angel ] di Maria . He 's left-footed and he can do the job there I think . ' Mata 's inclusion is a straight swap for the suspended Angel di Maria , while Phil Jones and Michael Carrick replace Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo . United are fourth in the Premier League , but can close the gap on Arsenal to one point with a victory against Tottenham .
van van Gaal has opted to play Juan matches against Tottenham . He replaces the suspended Angel di ##jk , who was sent off vs Arsenal . he 's last start came on may 17 , against QPR in the Premier League . The Spaniard has only made four Premier league appearances in 2015 .