Manchester United are in the Russian capital with their UEFA Champions League group stage clash at CSKA Moscow tomorrow night. United manager Jose Mourinho met the media an hour ago, and we have the entire press conference for you below, via YouTube.
The injury to Marouane Fellaini, and the subsequent midfielder crisis that’s ensuing was the main topic of the session.
“We don’t have Fellaini, we don’t have Pogba and we don’t have Carrick, all three midfield players we lose for this match, so there are not many solutions,” said Mourinho.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_eic9WoXJ4
“For me, Craig Pawson is one of the big talents in refereeing in England. He had an amazing game in my opinion. He was calm and so much in control, he had a great performance.”
“It was only after the game I watched it [the challenge on Fellaini] on televsion. No camera for Craig and he made that decision.
“Fellaini was lucky, because it could have been a much worse situation.
“In a moment where we don’t have Pogba and Carrick, Marouane becomes even more important than he always is, and not to be here is a difficult situation for us. But I don’t expect Fellaini to be out for a long time.”
“After Crystal Palace there is an international break and Belgium, having already qualified for the World Cup, he’s not under pressure for a special big match for them, so hopefully he’ll be back for us.”
Odds: Oddschecker backs United at 5/7 to win, while setting odds for a draw at 29/10. The line for a CSKA Moscow victory is now at 19/4.
Kickoff: 7:45 pm BST
Injury Report, team news: go to this link
MUFC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link.
Prediction: Manchester United 2, CSKA Moscow 0
As always, feel free to post your own score prediction in the comments section.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.