Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard are out for a couple of weeks and will be missing Manchester United’s Monday night FA Cup tie against Chelsea.
The next match for Manchester United in what is their crunch run of fixtures is the Monday night FA Cup tie against Chelsea. The Red Devils will be missing the services of attacking duo Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, who are sidelined for a couple of weeks.
David de Gea will retain his spot in goal, as should most of the back four. Victor Lindelof has been the standout defender for United and should be guaranteed to start. Luke Shaw and Ashley Young are also certain to start as wide defenders for Manchester United. The last spot is up for grabs, with Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones all vying for it.
Jones though, has been the better performer and should slot in at centre-back. In midfield, we should see the trio of Paul Pobga, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic start again, with the Frenchman perhaps being deployed in a number 10 role by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The attack is where we are likely to see a lot of changes. Alexis Sanchez is likely to come into the starting eleven. Solskjaer reflected on the injury to Martial and Lingard while also putting his faith behind the Chilean, in his pre-match conference.
Solskjaer said, “It changes when you get injuries, obviously, but no it’s not going to be a massive difference to what I did imagine. We beat Arsenal in the last cup round without Anthony and without Rashy [Marcus Rashford]. Now, it’s without Anthony and Jesse, so I’m sure we’ll conjure up something.”
“He wins the ball, there’s energy there and, if he can just get that goal, hopefully it will release some of his confidence. I’ve been here for two months now with him and he’s been injured for the first part of it, so it’s unfair to just expect him to be at the top straightaway. I’m sure we’ll see the best of him until the end of the season.”
While Marcus Rashford is available and should start, injuries to Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial means there could be a few changes in the offing. Romelu Lukaku could start upfront, with Marcus Rashford being pushed wide to the left, which is his preferred side out wide.
