Man Utd’s Manuel Ugarte in doubt to face Brentford after suffering knock vs Ecuador
The nature of his injury remains unclear, but it raises concerns over his availability for Saturday’s clash at Old Trafford.
Second-placed Manchester United visit Newcastle United in an intriguing Premier League clash on Sunday and Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho had some positive news to share with respect to his team’s casualty list.
Mourinho told MUTV that there were no new injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s trip to St. James’ Park, with Daley Blind and Eric Bailly definitely out of contention for the clash against the Magpies.
“The squad is good, everything is fine,” the Portuguese tactician later stated at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
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“Eric Bailly and Daley Blind are the two players that are out. Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) started training with the team two days ago, so two days with the group and improving. We are fine.”
Bailly and Blind started training on the pitch earlier in the duo but clearly the defensive duo is still someway behind to a return to first-team action.
Ibrahimovic, who suffered an ACL injury in the latter stages of the 2016-17 season, made a comeback in at the end of 2017 but the same knee has been giving the veteran striker problems and he is expected to be in available for selection in a week’s time.
Central midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been struggling with a knee injury of late and the gangly Belgian is expected to return after March 15 as United continue to compete for silverware on three fronts.
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Currently in second place and trailing runaway leaders Manchester City by a massive 13 points, the Red Devils’ most realistic chances of silverware would be in the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
However, they will seek to end the Premier League season on a strong note as the race for the top-four is still on with the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all within touching distance of the Red Devils.
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After Sunday’s clash with Newcastle, United travel to Huddersfield Town for a FA Cup fifth round clash on February 17 before jetting across the sea to Spain for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie with La Liga side Sevilla on February 21.
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