Up next for Manchester United is a home Premier League clash against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. As another long international break heads into the final stretch, we take a look at some off the pitch news today.
Then tomorrow we can all shift back into preview mode of the upcoming weekend action. United will likely be without two key players for this match. One of which is Marcus Rashford, who is doubtful due to a shoulder injury that saw him withdraw from England duty this week.
Rashford has made international headlines this year for his humanitarian efforts, becoming an esteemed Member of the British Order for his work with in trying to feed needy children.
Now Rashford, MBE, has turned his attention to the cause of literacy, announcing the launch of a children’s book club, in order to ensure that reading isn’t just for “those that can afford it.”
Here’s more on that, via The Independent.
On the pitch, he has three assists and two goals in league play. According to Spreadex, a statistical projection service, Rashford is expected to triple his assist total to nine this season, compared to his personal best of eight last season. The Spreadex projections have seventh best of anyone in the league.
His teammate, Bruno Fernandes is the 3rd and final player (after Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne) projected to get 11 assists this season.
Fernandes, who has already had a hand in three league goals this term, had 14 assists in total last season, seven in the Premier League and seven in Portugal’s Primeira Liga.
The Portuguese magnifico also has five league goals this season, serving as United’s primary penalty taker. Fernandes also made headlines this break for publicly proclaiming that United have the mentality to win the league title this season.
The standings obviously seem to say otherwise, but you can’t fault the man for having supremo confidence in himself and his team. Finally, right sided attacking player Mason Greenwood has now returned to training with the club, having missed out on the last match before break, the 3-1 winner at Everton.
The official reason for Greenwood’s absence was an “illness.” He missed out on England duty as well this break, but that was likely to happen regardless of his health. Having broken covid-19 safety precautions at the team hotel in Iceland last time around, he’s not exactly in the best standing with the national side right now.
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.