Manchester United are set to begin a very critical stretch of play when they host AC Milan in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie at Old Trafford on Thursday. Three days later, they’ll be home to West Ham United in the Premier League competition.
Then next Thursday sees the return leg in the UEL round of 16 tie. It’s quite possible United will be without one of their most key players, Marcus Rashford, for the whole triad of games.
AC Milan at Manchester United FYIs
Kickoff: 5:55 GMT, Thurs. Mar 11, Old Trafford
United Starting XI Prediction: go here
Referee: Slavko Vincic (SVN)
VAR: Bastian Dankert (GER)
United Team News
Scan showed that Rashford’s ankle has no ligament damage- that’s the good news. The bad news is that the young Englishman, who was subbed out of the Manchester derby victory in the 73′, still has a lot of swelling and bruising on thaat ankle, so much so that he was having difficulty putting weight on it yesterday.
Rashford is expected to miss this match, and then who knows, things could change quickly as he ices the ankle and gets rest. Also expected to miss out are Paul Pogba, Phil Jones and Juan Mata. Edinson Cavani wasn’t fit in time to face City on the weekend, and it remains to be seen whether or not, he’ll be fit to feature here.
Goalkeeper David de Gea is still in Spain, for the birth of his first child. He wouldn’t feature in this one anyway, as Dean Henderson is the cup goalkeeper.
AC Milan Team News
Old friend Zlatan Ibrahimovic faces a race to be fit in time to face his former side. The mercurial Swede suffered an adductor injury during last weekend’s win over Roma, but he’s recovering fast, according to manager Stefano Pioli. At least he’s given up on the pointless feud he started with Lebron James for no discernible reason.
The Rossoneri have other fitness concerns beyond Ibra though. Theo Hernandez has been added to an already long injury list that includes Hakan Calhanoglu, Ismael Bennacer, Mario Mandzukic, Ante Rebic and Daniel Maldini.
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.