Jose Mourinho might ring in the changes as Manchester United prepare to host Derby County at Old Trafford in an FA Cup 3rd round tie on Friday.
Manchester United will begin their FA Cup campaign on Friday, when they welcome Derby County to Old Trafford in an FA Cup third round tie. And Jose Mourinho has a lot to be buoyed about ahead of the cup fixture, with the injury woes starting to ease up in his squad.
The Manchester United boss has just three players remaining on the treatment table now – Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick have recovered from their respective injuries, but the game has come too soon for the latter, confirming the same to MUTV.
“From the injured players, Fellaini is back. And Michael Carrick is back to training, not to competition, but is back to training with the team. Antonio Valencia will be back to the team next week, so he is not playing tomorrow but will be back to the team next week. The situation is improving for us.”
Mourinho also added that Romelu Lukaku has recovered from the head injury he suffered last weekend, although the Belgian striker might be given an extended rest. In his stead, Marcus Rashford should start upfront, with Anthony Martial likely to be in the lineup as well after being taken off early against Everton.
In goal, Sergio Romero is a certain starter for Manchester United, after Mourinho confirmed that David De Gea will be rested for the cup tie. Apart from the Argentine, the Manchester United boss is likely to ring in a few more changes.
The likes of Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind, Axel Tuanzebe and Scott McTominay are expected to get rare starts, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan could get another opportunity too. Among the aforementioned players, Tuanzebe could start in midfield, with Mourinho deploying the youngster in the position previously.
Alternatively, the Manchester United boss could also use a system employing a back-three, with Tuanzebe, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo the central defenders, although he is likely to stray away from the formation that has often lacked a killer instinct in attack.