Midfielder Marouane Fellaini was a scratch from the Belgium match day squad that played Netherlands to a 1-1 draw in a friendly last night. According to manager Roberto Martinez, he just wasn’t 100% fit for the match. If you read between the lines of what Martinez said, you can hear him kind of admit that this was a match of low importance too.
The polarizing player in the purest sense should be ready and fit face Chelsea on the weekend though, says his national team boss.
United vs Chelsea FYIs
If you log on to your given sports betting platform you’ll see that most sports books are offering United to win at 17/4, a Draw at 11/4, with Chelsea being backed at 7/10. The match will kickoff on Saturday October 20, 12:30 BST, at Stamford Bridge in west London.
Fellaini is a key player for the outlook on this game
“He should be fine, he just wasn’t 100 percent,” Martinez told reporters in the mixed zone.
“He’s got a very important game at the weekend and it wasn’t a game today to use players that weren’t 100 percent. We expect he should be fine the next couple of days.”
Fellaini is certainly one of Mourinho’s most trusted players and often a favorite in selection. Thus, Martinez definitely did him a solid here by resting the big man on Tuesday night. The trip to Stamford Bridge is always huge for United, but even more so in the Mourinho era, naturally, as that is the club that sacked him in December of 2015.
United will be underdogs in this clash, so it’s a big boost for Mourinho that he’ll have one of the key cogs in his machine fit and ready to go on Saturday.
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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