Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful Anthony Martial will be fit in time to feature for Manchester United against Leicester City on Sunday.
Manchester United’s sweet winning run under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was halted by Burnley, even though the manner of draw – a comeback after being 2-0 down – would have only provided a boost in confidence to the players. The Red Devils now travel to King Power Stadium to face Leicester City, with the manager sweating over the fitness of Anthony Martial.
David de Gea is set to start as the goalkeeper for Manchester United, as he has done for every single Premier League fixture this season. The back four though, could see a little bit of shift. Chris Smalling is yet to be fully fit again and Phil Jones did not really impress in the 2-2 draw against Burnley, which could see Eric Bailly return to the starting lineup to partner Victor Lindelof in central defence.
Luke Shaw is guaranteed to start on the left. But, the right side is subject to Solskjaer’s choice of youth or experience. Ashley Young has been preferred while Diogo Dalot has also done well in spades. We could see the manager give Young a bit of rest and start Dalot instead.
The midfield has been fixed for some time under Solskjaer, who will think twice before experimenting with the winning combination again after the Burnley performance. Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba should assume their respective roles in midfield.
Marcus Rashford seemed bereft of his usual swagger when played out wide against Burnley and should return to his role as the centre-forward in what will be his 100th Premier League appearance for Manchester United. Jesse Lingard is likely to start on the right. But, Juan Mata has a brilliant record against Leicester and we could see him start in place of the Englishman.
The left side presents a dilemma. Solskjaer is hopeful of Anthony Martial being fit enough to feature after the forward has been nursing an injury, which forced him to miss the 2-2 draw against Burnley. The manager highlighted the same after the Burnley draw in his conference and did reiterate ahead of the Leicester tie that Martial could well be fit in time to be involved on Sunday.
“He [Martial] got a slight injury in training but hopefully he’ll be back for next weekend.”
Should Martial not start, it will be up to Alexis Sanchez, although Romelu Lukaku has become an intriguing option to be played out wide. For Sunday though, the Chilean should get the nod.
