Manchester United have a ridiculously quick turnaround this week, visiting Club Brugge for a Europa League round of 32 clash, the first of their two legged tie, on Thursday night. They just played, and won, at Chelsea last night. There isn’t much time to rest after the next match either, as they have another league fixture against Watford coming up on Sunday.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, not usually a volatile sound bite, has hit out at the schedule makers. Understandably so, given how Brugge played their domestic fixture on Saturday and will thus have two more days than United to prepare for this one. Nevertheless, United are still considered the current favorite to win the whole UEL tournament. So let’s take a look at the team news for this one.
We’ll start with Paul Pogba, and we’ll begin with off the pitch concerns. Time for some more Pogba transfer rumors?
Yes, time for more Pogba transfer rumors. There’s yet another report that he wants out this summer, with ESPN claiming the club have slapped a £150 million price tag on him. And you have his agent feuding with the club again, yadda yadda yadda. In terms of on the pitch Pogba concerns, he’s running again and could return to training soon.
The doctors will re-assess the Frenchman, who has only played 71 minutes since September, at some point this week. Elsewhere central defender Victor Lindelof missed the Chelsea win due to an illness, but is expected to be available, if needs be for this one.
Midfielder Scott McTominay is closing in on a return from a knee injury that has kept him out since Boxing Day, but this might be a bit too soon for him. He has a better chance of featuring on the weekend. Axel Tuanzebe (hamstring) and Marcus Rashford (back) are long term absentees.
Manchester United at Club Brugge UEL Round of 32 Leg 1/2 FYIs
February 20, 5:55 pm, Jan Breydel Stadium
United starting XI prediction: go to this link
TV: BT Sport 2
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov
Prediction: Manchester United 2, Club Brugge 1
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.
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