For long stretches at a time, September has obviously been rather boring for Manchester United fans. As Green Day famously sang “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. Am I right?
Well, things are about to get much more interesting now, with the Manchester Derby soon approaching. When it comes to team fitness concerns, the Red Devils could be without one, if not both, of their strike force duo in Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
Manchester Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sun Oct 2, Etihad Stadium, 2pm
Starting XI Predictions: City United
Team News: City United
After Extra Time Pod: Spotify Apple
Google Result Probability: City 73% United 11% Draw 16%
Man United Team News
With Martial, there is no specific target return date because he’s battling an Achilles injury. Martial has only featured once this season, coming off the bench to contribute an assist in the win over Liverpool on August 22.
As for Rashford, he’s missed the last two matches, both in UEL, due to a muscular injury that he picked up in that last league game, the win over Arsenal, which feels like ages ago. He didn’t train on Wednesday. Neither did Rashford, who confirmed that injury is the reason he wasn’t selected for the England national team this round of international competition.
According to multiple outlets, he/the club is eyeing a return on Sunday. Moving on to Harry Maguire, the United Captain is a doubt for Sunday after having been seen limping in the tunnel after England’s last game. We should get an update on that on Friday. Slab Head was a top trending a term a lot this international break, mostly due to his terrible form for country.
He said in an interview that people criticize him just for the clicks. Ok, cool! Let’s get a lot of page views on this post then!
Elsewhere, Donny van de Beek is a doubt, due to a knock.
Even if he were fully match fit to go 90 minutes, he likely wouldn’t make the squad anyway, given how far down the selection pecking order he is.
Martin Dubravka (knock), Facundo Pellistri (ankle) Brandon Williams (undisclosed) are doubts as well while Mason Greenwood remains suspended indefinitely.
Greenwood won’t feature again until the legal process runs its course. We’ve covered that situation in detail, plenty already.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.