Early team news for United against West Ham
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will make at least two changes to his starting XI for Saturday's Premier League match against West Ham at Old Trafford.
Right-back Ashley Young is suspended for the 17:30 BST kick-off as a result of the red card that he received against Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.
Luke Shaw picked up his 10th booking of the top-flight campaign in that same game and that means he must now serve a two-match ban, ruling him out against West Ham and the trip to Everton on 21 April.
Unfortunately, our no.23 has also earned himself a one-match ban in the Champions League after he was booked during the quarter-final first leg against Barcelona on Tuesday. As a result, he cannot feature in the return fixture.
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With both Young and Shaw absent, Diogo Dalot is perhaps in line to start at right-back and Marcos Rojo is presumably the most likely option at left-back.
The latter has struggled with injuries this campaign, but was a substitute in the 2-1 victory over Watford and registered 45 minutes for the Under-23s against West Bromwich Albion last Friday.
An impressive performance from the Argentina international could earn him a starting spot at the Nou Camp next Tuesday.
Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian are still unavailable due to injury.
In the centre of defence, Eric Bailly is not expected to be fit following the head injury he sustained while on international duty a few weeks ago. That suggests Ole will choose two of Victor Lindelof, Phil Jones or Chris Smalling.
With Saturday’s game sandwiched between two Champions League matches against Barcelona, it will be interesting to see which starting XI Solskjaer selects.
Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera both missed Tuesday's defeat to the Spanish champions, and it is currently unclear if they will be fit enough to play this weekend.
Up front, the boss confirmed in his post-match press conference that Alexis Sanchez should be included in the squad to face West Ham.
“He has done lots of injury work and is now injury free,” said Ole. “Now he’ll step up and train with the team. He will probably be in the squad for West Ham on Saturday and let’s see how much, and if he plays.”
Marcus Rashford started against Barcelona and played for 85 minutes, which suggested he was over the ankle injury and illness that had troubled his preparation.
Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial all started on the bench and may be in line for starting berths at the weekend.
Ole will hopefully give an update during his press conference at the Aon Training Complex on Friday morning.
WHAT ABOUT WEST HAM?
The Hammers were last in action on Monday night, when they lost 2-0 to an Eden Hazard-inspired Chelsea.
Winger Felipe Anderson returned from injury at Stamford Bridge and is one of West Ham’s most potent attacking threats, along with former United striker Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez. The popular Mexican goalscorer will undoubtedly be welcomed back to Old Trafford by the United supporters.
One man who did miss the London derby was Michail Antonio. The 29-year-old was suffering from a groin strain, but could be fit enough to feature against United.
Samir Nasri was named on the bench at Chelsea, but picked up an injury while warming up during the half-time break and the Frenchman is now a doubt.
Long-term absentee Jack Wilshere returned to West Ham’s Under-23 side recently and Colombian midfielder Carlos Sanchez has been back in training, after recovering from a knee injury that has ruled him out since September. This Saturday’s match will almost definitely come too early for the pair.
The same can be said of Winston Reid, Andriy Yarmolenko and Andy Carroll, who are not expected to feature again this season.
West Ham are currently 11th in the table having picked up 42 points from 33 games, and were beaten 4-0 on their last trip to Old Trafford.
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