Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has provided the background to his team selection against Tottenham.
There are five changes in all to the XI that started the Manchester derby last weekend but Bruno Fernandes's unavailability is a concern with Atletico Madrid to come on Tuesday night in the Champions League round-of-16 second leg.
Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo are back in the side, with Edinson Cavani among the substitutes but, as expected, Scott McTominay has not made it due to a calf injury.
David De Gea is in the side, despite some talk he would not be playing, while Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford also start, in place of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Anthony Elanga.
“Bruno is ill, unfortunately,”
confirmed Ralf before the game. “He couldn't train yesterday and is therefore not available for the game. Hopefully, he will be back for Tuesday but, today, he is out.
”David he had, to start with, a positive Covid test but, in the end, it turned out to be a false test. We did another test after that and it was negative so that is why he can play.
“We wanted to play with three offensive players so that's why I decided to play Cristiano and Marcus at the same time,”
the boss added, when asked about fielding both forwards in his line-up, alongside in-form Jadon Sancho.
After the contest with Spurs, Atletico are at Old Trafford on Tuesday night but then there is a large gap in our schedule until the start of April, when the Reds face Leicester City at home.