Ahead of Championship Sunday, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer provided fitness updates on a trio of injured stars: forward Anthony Martial (chronic knee injury), central defender Harry Maguire (long term ankle injury) and wing player Dan James (undiscolsed issue).
As expected, the team captain is still sidelined, and in a race against time to be fit enough to feature against Villareal in Europa League final. The Frenchman will join him in sitting out tomorrow’s season final at Wolves. James, however, will be in the team.
Championship Sunday FYIs
Kickoff: 11 am ET Sunday May 23, Molineux Stadium
United Team News: go here
United Starting XI Prediction: go here
PL Form: Wolves LLWDL Manchester United DLLWD
“Dan [James] will be involved [aginst Wolves]. Unfortunately Anthony [Martial] will not be there,” the Norwegian said.
“Harry [Maguire] and Anthony are working hard to be available for the final.”
Maguire is one of the team’s most important players and he’ll be a major difference maker in the trophy game, should he be cleared to play.
Maguire had a disastrous preseason/off-season, but he responded as well as possible from all of that to have a stellar season. Martial has dealt with injuries, and mostly had an up-and-down, rather disappointing campaign.
He still has massive talent and potential, but there are many who believe his next game for United could be his last.
Especially with Edinson Cavani re-upping for another year.
As for James, he’s a squad/fringe player these days, which makes Sunday’s affair perfect for him to get a lot of action. United have nothing left to play for in the league, so OGS will no doubt rotate his squad, in order to have his A-squad ready for the Europa Final.
Wolves 1, United 1
Should be an uninspired edition, but hey, it’s still Championship Sunday.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, 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,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.