Jose Mourinho could be without as many as two first-team players when Manchester United take on Chelsea for the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Manchester United will be hoping to cap off their season with a trophy as they prepare to face off against Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday. And, Jose Mourinho will be delighted by the fact that he has almost all of his regulars fit and available for selection for the final game of the season.
The defensive unit is completely injury-free, with Sergio Romero recovering from a knee injury before the end of the league campaign. However, the Argentine, who has started four of Manchester United’s games enroute to the final, will start on the bench, with David De Gea returning between the sticks.
Indeed, Mourinho confirmed the same in his pre-match press conference, iterating that Romero still lacks some sharpness to make the starting lineup, which is why he will pick De Gea instead.
“Yeah, De Gea plays. He [Romero] was injured for a long, long time – around two-and-something months. He didn’t play some matches that normally would be his matches, the semi-final against Tottenham, a couple more matches before the final. He trained only one week before the Watford match, and a little bit more before.”
“And that’s the reason. It’s not about trust, it’s not about my confidence in him, because you could have felt [my trust and confidence] last season when the Europa League final was a much, more important match than this one.”
In front of De Gea, Antonio Valencia looks set to lead the side, occupying the right-back spot, with Ashley Young manning the opposite flank. At the heart of the Manchester United defence though, Mourinho has a problem of plenty, with Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones all making their cases in recent weeks.
In the end, the Manchester United boss might persist with the trusted pairing of Smalling and Jones. In midfield, Marouane Fellaini looks set to miss out once again due to his injury. The Belgian was unlikely to start anyway, with Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic nailed on in the midfield trio.
Mourinho has the familiar problem of an abundance of personnel for the front trio. The good news is that Anthony Martial is available after recovering from a minor knock. The manager is still sweating over the fitness of Romelu Lukaku, though, with the Belgian striker facing a late fitness test to determine his availability.
“Martial is fit and Lukaku we have to wait until the last moment. I don’t want to lie to you and say he doesn’t play and then he plays or vice versa, so [on] Lukaku, we have to wait.”
The decision on the striker may be a late one as a result, with Marcus Rashford on standby, if Lukaku is unable to prove his fitness. The other two spots though, are likely to go to Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard, who have both been Mourinho’s go-to men in attack of late. Juan Mata and Martial are, thus, likely to be impact substitutes.
