Manchester United will be boosted by the return of rejuvenated left-back Luke Shaw, but will miss star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to suspension.
There was a huge cloud of doubt over the head of English full-back Luke Shaw heading into the international break. A public dressing down from manager Jose Mourinho prompted the rumor mill to claim that he was out of the Portuguese manager’s plans at United.
Mourinho addressed this directly ahead of the crunch clash against Arsenal on Saturday. The Portuguese manager confirmed that Shaw was fit for the game, and praised him for training hard during the international break.
“He worked well in this period where we had a very small group, which is not the best [situation], but he worked really well,” said Mourinho, according to the official club website.
“He is ready to play and I don’t have any problem with him. I am not saying that he plays or he doesn’t play tomorrow, I am just saying that he is my player, a player with potential, but like every young player he has little problems and things he needs to learn and to improve on. ”
Meanwhile, Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini is a major doubt for the game. The 28-year-old suffered a calf injury in United’s last game against Swansea, and was even sent back to Manchester from national duty.
Mourinho will be relieved that Spaniard Ander Herrera has completed his suspension, and will bolster the midfield. On the flip side though, United will be without their star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is suspended from the game after receiving his fifth yellow card against the Swans.
Herrera could pair up with Paul Pogba in central midfield, while either Wayne Rooney or Marcus Rashford replaces Zlatan as central striker. Juan Mata will probably play as number 10, flanked by Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial on the wings.
Chris Smalling is still a doubt in defence, which means we could see a central defence partnership of Phil Jones and Daley Blind. Shaw should start at left-back, while Matteo Darmian returns to the right-back position. The ever reliable David de Gea remains the undisputed number one in goal.
