Out with the old, in with the new? Alexis Sanchez will make his Premier League debut as a member of United in London, and he’ll do against the north London rivals of his old club, Arsenal. While this will be the 29-year-old Chilean’s first league game for the Red Devils, 36-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have played his last. The acquisition of Sanchez has now made the role of Ibrahimovic expendable.
Last night, reports surfaced that the L.A. Galaxy were once again interested in signing Ibrahimovic and that the deal is supposedly closer to being done than it has ever been at any point.
United manager Jose Mourinho said that Ibrahimovic told him nothing about this situation, and that he first heard about it the same way the rest of us did- via the media. He also said that if the move is to actually happen, he won’t obstruct it.
Ibrahimovic may not play in this one, and thus may not play for United ever again. He suffered a ACL injury last April during the late stages of the Europa League tournament, but made a recovery that was nothing short of a medical marvel. However, he has since suffered an injury setback and thus been out of commission since December 26.
The striker also posted an Instagram story over the weekend showing what great shape he’s currently in and just how hard he’s working on his rehabilitation.
He is likely out for this one, and the same goes for defenders Eric Bailly (ankle) and Daley Blind (knock). There are no new additional injury concerns for United.
On the flip side, Tottenham have a few injury concerns. Danny Rose (knee), Serge Aurier and Harry Winks (both ankle) are doubtful for Wednesday night. However, Erik Lamela (gluteal muscle) and Christian Eriksen (flu) could return to action for the midweek all big six clash at Wembley Stadium. In this Premier League series, United have 33 wins while Tottenham have seven, to go along with 11 draws.
United starting XI prediction: go to this link
Jose Mourinho press conference video: go to this link
Combined Best XI of the two teams (from the first meeting in October): go to this link
Odds: Tottenham- 13/10, Man Utd- 21/10, Draw- 23/10
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1, Manchester United 1
As always, feel free to post your own Man United and/or Stoke prediction, as well as your forecast for the final score.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune corporation blogging community Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.