Manchester United host FC Rostov later tonight for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie
The Red Devils go into the match with a crucial away goal after drawing 1-1 in Russia, thanks to a goal from Henrikh Mkhitaryan. However, United will have to cope without Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial.
They will be boosted, though, by the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who missed out on United’s FA Cup loss to Chelsea due to a suspension. Speaking before the match, Mourinho threw some light on Martial’s availability.
” Martial was injured for the Chelsea match,” confirmed Mourinho. ” He couldn’t be selected for the Chelsea match and, if you are injured for the Monday night game, you’re injured for the Tuesday morning training session.”
” So he’s out of my mind. I don’t think about him, we have the same players we had in the last match plus Ibrahimovic returning for the Europa League. Rooney is injured. He had some kick in his knee area, so he can’t even come out to the pitch. He stays inside the medical department.”
United do not have any other fresh injury concerns from the FA Cup tie against Chelsea and are expected to name a very strong side as the Europe League now represents the best chance they have at another trophy this season, having already won the EFL Cup.
United will also be boosted by the return of Eric Bailly, who has served his European suspension. Ibrahimovic’s suspension only applies to domestic matches so Mourinho will definitely include the Swede in the starting lineup.
It seems unlikely that Jose Mourinho will stick with the 3-4-3 formation he employed against Chelsea; meaning United will revert to their usual 4-3-3, with Darmian, Jones, Bailly and Valencia likely to constitute their defense.
Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera will likely start in midfield with Henrikh Mkhitaryan in front of them, while Juan Mata could also be restored to the starting lineup alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford.
Aleksandr Gatskan and Timofei Kalachev will be missing for FC Rostov following their yellow cards last week, and Rostov also have a couple of other concerns going into the game. Soslan Dzhanaev could return in goal but Vladimir Granat is unlikely to be available.
