Scott McTominay is an injury doubt while Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are expected to start when Manchester United take on Leicester City on Saturday.
Manchester United will be looking to continue their ascent on the Premier League table when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face off against fellow top-four contenders Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
Ahead of the game, Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is sweating over the availability of midfielder Scott McTominay. The Scotsman picked up a groin injury in the win over Leeds United last weekend and was unavailable for the midweek Carabao Cup tie against Everton.
“Scott it seems like a groin issue, so I don’t know. Hopefully, it won’t be too long and he’s not had any muscle injuries before so we don’t know how quickly he’s going to recover,” Solskjaer had said earlier this week. There has been no fresh update provided on McTominay and he remains a doubt heading into Saturday’s game.
Solskjaer Update on Mctominay "Scott it seems like a groin issue, so I don’t know. Hopefully it won’t be too long and he’s not had any muscle injuries before so we don’t know how quickly he’s going to recover."
?#MUFC pic.twitter.com/rFIvQxO0oi— UTDArmy? (@UTDArmy4) December 25, 2020
Apart from him, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones are also ruled out with injuries, although neither are part of Manchester United’s Premier League squad. Having made as many as nine changes for the cup clash against Everton on Wednesday, Solskjaer is expected to bring back his regulars to the lineup against Leicester.
The first change ought to come in goal where David de Gea should reclaim his starting berth from Dean Henderson, who kept another clean sheet in the cup game. Harry Maguire and Alex Telles are expected to be retained in the Manchester United backline against the Foxes, but both Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Victor Lindelof should return after not featuring in midweek.
Fred is a certainty to feature in the Manchester United midfield, coming in at the expense of Nemanja Matic. However, with McTominay’s involvement a doubt, Paul Pogba could be set for another start in the double pivot, after making a strong impression against Everton in midweek.
Bruno Fernandes is a pivotal part of Solskjaer’s team and is undoubtedly one of the first names on the teamsheet on his current form. The Portuguese playmaker ought to continue as the No. 10 against the Foxes on Saturday afternoon.
Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial made appearances off the bench in the midweek but should feature from the get-go at the King Power Stadium. Solskjaer was asked about the improvement in Martial’s form in recent fixtures in his press conference and the Norwegian praised his forward’s turnaround but insisted there’s more to come.
“Anthony has made some important contributions lately: assists, scored goals, he is getting fitter. Maybe his confidence has been bruised a little bit by what happened earlier in the season. But Anthony is going to be better and better,” he said.
Rashford should slot in on the left wing while Martial takes up the centre-forward slot, replacing Edinson Cavani, despite the Uruguayan scoring in midweek. On the right flank, Mason Greenwood is expected to get the nod ahead of Daniel James, who started Manchester United’s last league game against Leeds.
Manchester United Predicted XI: de Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles; Fred, Pogba; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
