According to his Juventus teammate Fernando Bernardeschi, Cristiano Ronaldo is feeling very chill about his return to Old Trafford on Tuesday night. The Portugese superstar is available after having served a one match suspension for the extremely questionable red card he picked up at Valencia.
Ronaldo heads into this match amid an investigation into sexual assault claims made against him, stemming from incident in 2009, the same summer that he left United for Real Madrid. Ronaldo has publicly denied the allegations on several occasions.
He’ll be available for this match, so let’s now take a look at who won’t be, and also who is doubtful.
Let’s start with United, who will be without the services of Marcos Rojo, Jesse Lingard, Marouane Fellaini, Diogo Dalot, Scott McTominay and Phil Jones on Tuesday night. On Monday, Jose Mourinho confirmed during his press conference that Alexis Sanchez missed training, and that he’s also out. Additionally, Mourinho revealed that Antonio Valencia has been dealing with complications after mouth surgery.
“The players you saw are the players that are available,” Mourinho said. “There is nothing to hide and Alexis is out.”
For Juve, Emre Can has been ruled out after being diagnosed with a thyroid nodule. The club statement in reference to the former Liverpool star reads: “Emre Can will undergo clinical tests and investigations for a thyroid nodule that could also require surgical treatment.”
There is good news for the Serie A juggernaut though- Paulo Dybala should be fit for this clash. He came off the bench to make an appearance in the 71′ versus Genoa, after having suffered a slight knee injury while on international duty with Argentina.
Dybala is one of the key Juve players that United striker Romelu Lukaku said United should be wary of.
United vs Juve FYIs
Romelu Lukaku Press Conference: go to this link
Jose Mourinho Press Conference: go to this link
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: Tuesday October 23, 8pm BST, Old Trafford
Match Preview: go to this link
Odds via Odds Checker: United 12/5, Draw 12/5, Juventus 7/5
Prediction: Juventus 1, United 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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