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We are in the dark at the time of writing as to the injury status of some Manchester United players, making prediction of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s second starting XI as interim manager a little difficult.
Christian Eriksen missed Wednesday’s match against Leicester City with a knock, and whether he is back or not has not been elucidated by the club.
Mason Mount is rated as having an outside chance of playing against Chelsea tomorrow according to premierinjuries.com. The nature of his injury has never been made clear by the club.
Leny Yoro and Tyrell Malacia are back in training, with the Dutchman taking part in full team training, but it is almost certainly too soon for him to make a comeback, with November 24th having been pencilled in as a return date.
Luke Shaw has also been said to be targeting the Ipswich game on November 24th for his return, while Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Antony are not yet back in any form of training as far as we know.
Fringe midfielders Toby Collyer and Dan Gore are also ruled out, with Gore in particular seemingly on the receiving end of a countless string of problems.
Van Nistelrooy employed a bold 4-4-2 against Leicester City in the week, and he may do so again. However, Joshua Zirkzee’s poor performance in that game will surely lead to his replacement by Rasmus Hojlund.
That tweak could mean Bruno Fernandes pushing slightly further back, perhaps to his regular number 10 in a 4-2-3-1, or more likely into the hole just behind the Dane.
Amad looked very lively when coming on as substitute on Wednesday and could get a start on the right wing, with Alejandro Garnacho on the left and Marcus Rashford being rotated.
Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte were outstanding on Wednesday and even if Eriksen or Mount are available, the pair should keep their places in the twin pivot.
The defence could be unchanged, with Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot continuing at full back and Victor Lindelof and Matthijs de Ligt at centre back.
However, Lindelof looked a little shaky against Leicester so Noussair Mazraoui or Jonny Evans could in for him. Mazraoui would play at full back, meaning Martinez would switch back to centre back to replace the Swede.
Andre Onana should be restored in goal after being given a night off on Wednesday. Altay Bayindir will return to the bench.
Van Nistelrooy could provide some insight on the injuries in the embargoed section of his press conference, which we will publish here just after 10.30pm this evening. In the meantime, here is our predicted XI for tomorrow’s 4.30pm kick-off at Old Trafford:
2024-11-02 11:55:11
