Manchester United will return to Premier League action on Saturday, against Leicester City at Old Trafford, and there is plenty of intrigue surrounding Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad for the match.
The boss could be without three regular starters after Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard were all forced to return early from international duty with their respective nations in the break.
Wan-Bissaka was prevented from making his senior England debut due to a back problem, while his Three Lions team-mate Lingard was sent home at the weekend with an illness.
Pogba did not represent France in their European Championship qualifiers against Albania or Andorra either, due to an ankle injury that was confirmed by the France Football Federation.
Solskjaer will presumably provide an update on the trio’s availability during his press conference on Friday.
It is hoped that Ole’s squad may be boosted by the return of two players.
Luke Shaw has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury during the recent Premier League match against Crystal Palace on 24 August. Anthony Martial also picked up a knock in the closing stages of that game at Old Trafford.
Both Reds missed the outing at Southampton, but Ole suggested before the 1-1 draw that the pair may return soon. ““After the international break, hopefully Anthony will be ready for the Leicester game,”” said Ole. ““And Luke maybe another week or two after that.””
United’s only other known injury concerns are Diogo Dalot, Eric Bailly and Tim Fosu-Mensah, who are yet to play this season, although the initial suggestion with Dalot was that he could be back this month.
FOCUS ON THE OPPOSITION
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers is expected to be without three players for Saturday's match at the Theatre of Dreams.
Influential centre-back Wes Morgan is currently nursing a back injury and is reported to be doubtful, while Matthew James and Daniel Amartey are both long-term absentees for the Foxes.
Saturday's opponents have made a positive start to the league season by earning draws against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea, as well as wins over Sheffield United and Bournemouth.
In their previous outing, former Liverpool boss Rodgers named this starting XI: Schmeichel, Chilwell, Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Tielemans, Maddison, Albrighton, Ndidi, Barnes, Vardy.
Leicester's Marc Albrighton is confident his side can earn a victory at Old Trafford.
“There’s no reason why we can’t do it,”” he told the club's official website this week. ““We’re going there full of confidence and we’re playing with freedom. We’ve got the ability, in my opinion. I feel like we can hold our own against them, and probably more than that, go on and beat them.”
While the Foxes have started the season well, Albrighton is not getting carried away and retains a short-term view. “We treat every game differently,” he added. “We set up differently against other teams, depending on how they look. I think it’s important to take blocks of games.
“If you take those blocks between the international breaks and look to get a certain amount of points between those breaks, then you’ve got something to work towards then.
“It’s important to not get carried away and think we’ve got so many points and we’re third in the league. You look at it as if you’ve hit your target for this month, and move on to the next one.”
Source: Manchester United FC / Mark Froggatt