(UPDATE: Pogba and De Gea ruled out)
(UPDATE: David de Gea a doubt after having suffered an abductor injury in Spain-Sweden match)
Happy Manchester United vs. Liverpool F.C. week! On Sunday the rivalry gets renewed for the 203rd time (173rd clash in the top flight), and this match will see both sides becoming much more fit.
Let’s take a look at the recent injury absentees who should be back in action for this one, as well as some match FYIs. In this post, we’ll look at United’s fitness situation. For the Liverpool side of things, go here.
Liverpool at Manchester United: Sunday October 20, 4:30 pm, Old Trafford
Early match preview: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: coming later this week
Manager press conference videos: coming later this week
Pregame Team News Summations: coming later this week
Odds: Liverpool win 4/5, Man United win 5/4
Google Result Probability: Liverpool win 55%, Man United win 24%, Draw 21%
Red Devils central defender Victor Lindelof is confident that he’ll return to action, having recovered from the back injury that has recently sidelined him (more on that here). Elsewhere, franchise player Paul Pogba has missed three of the last four Premier League clashes due to his ankle injury, but he’s been stepping up his rehabilitation in Dubai this international break and should be raring to go.
That’s according to the Daily Mirror, who also claim right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (missed the last two games due to tonsillitis) and left back Luke Shaw (out since the Southampton draw, hamstring injury) will be back, as part of a “triple injury boost” for MUFC.
The British tabloid goes on to say that forward Anthony Martial (hamstring injury as well) will be in contention to make the match day squad.
This match will likely come too soon for the Frenchman to make a first team appearance however. United, who have just one league win since opening day, are in dire straights right now and enter this match looking up 11 slots in the table at their rivals.
They’ll definitely need all hands on deck to make this one a competitive game.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.