Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will be monitoring the fitness of Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin prior to the UEFA Europa League meeting with Fenerbahce on Thursday night. The French duo missed the Premier League clash against Liverpool on Monday
Manchester United host Turkish giants Fenerbahce on Thursday as they look to make it back-to-back home wins in Europe. A win on Thursday night could take the Red Devils to the top of Group A and in a commanding position to qualify for the Round of 32.
Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin missed the trip to Anfield on Monday after suffering training ground injury on Saturday. And the French duo are facing a race against time to regain fitness ahead of the Europa League Group A clash against Fenerbahce. Phil Jones is the other notable absentee and is likely to return in November.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is not known to tinker with his teams regularly. However, having played a highly intense match at Anfield on Monday night, and, with the crunch Premier League visit to Stamford Bridge on the horizon, one can expect the Portuguese to rest a few of his first team regulars.
That being said, Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling are expected to continue as the center half pairing for the Red Devils, with Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Luke Shaw primed to start as the full backs. Between the sticks, Sergio Romero is expected to make a second consecutive start in Europa League with David de Gea likely to be rested.
Man of the match on Monday night, Ander Herrera is expected to be rested for this game. Michael Carrick is poised to make his first start in Europe this season alongside the mercurial Paul Pogba. Club captain Wayne Rooney is also expected to make his first start in four games having been restricted to the bench since the loss to Watford in the Premier League.
The Manchester derby “scapegoats” Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are expected to start on the wings for the Red Devils, with the latter only recently returning to full fitness.
Finally, Swedish spearhead Zlatan Ibrahimovic should be rested ahead of the crucial game against Chelsea, which means the much-heralded youngster Marcus Rashford is expected to start in his favoured central role as the striker. Juan Mata and Memphis Depay are the other attacking players looking to return to the starting line-up.