Manchester United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round tonight, but the win came with a price. Their leading scorer, Marcus Rashford, left after just 15 minutes, having suffered a back injury.
He was able to walk on his own accord, but he was certainly not walking as normal. Now Rashford, who has 19 goals this season, may not be fit to play at Liverpool on Sunday, as the two bitter rivals clash for the second time this season. United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he took a gamble in playing Rashford, and it came back to bite him.
“It backfired,” said Solskjaer. “You have got to take them [risks] once in a while.”
“He’ll be tested in the next few days — we have to see for Sunday. He couldn’t run. He struggled a little bit with his back and got another knock. It didn’t help.”
“I didn’t want to play him. We needed the win, he was involved in the goal, but it backfired. We will do everything we can to keep him fit.”
Liverpool have broken numerous records this season and they look like an unstoppable juggernaut right now. However, United did battle them to a stalemate in the reverse fixture and it was Rashford who scored the only Red Devils goal in that match.
Marcus Rashford tweeted the following about the events of tonight after the match:
Never want to feel like I’ve let my teammates, the club and most importantly the fans down so did my very best to carry on tonight and was gutted to come off.
Top work from the lads to get into the next round ?? pic.twitter.com/ZLpxiqhtq3
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 15, 2020
Manchester United at Liverpool FC FYIs
January 19, 4:30 pm, Anfield
Starting XI Predictions, Full Team News, Prediction: coming Friday
Key stats/facts: Liverpool are undefeated in the Premier League this season, United are the only team to take points from them, drawing 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in October
Form Guide: Liverpool WWWWW Manchester United WLWWL
Odds via Betway: Liverpool FC win 1.4, Draw 4.75, Manchester United win 7.5
Probabilities via Google: Liverpool FC win 70%, Draw 19%, Manchester United win 11%
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