Krishnan Sreekumar
Ralf Rangnick provides team news ahead of Liverpool trip and confirms Manchester United will be without five players
Speaking in his pre-match conference ahead of his side’s trip to Anfield, as quoted by the club’s official website, Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick provided an injury update on the players available to face Liverpool.
The club were without five stars for the previous game against Norwich due to injury issues, and the German confirmed that the same five players would miss the game against their arch-nemesis tomorrow as well.
Rangnick said that Fred, Scott McTominay, Edinson Cavani, and Luke Shaw were still unavailable for the match, with Raphael Varane also missing out even though he was on the pitch with a rehab coach in a bid to return to action soon.
“Rapha [Varane] didn’t train with the team. He was on the pitch with one of our rehab coaches. But with regard to injured players, we have the same situation that we had in the last two games.”
With Fred and McTominay out, the former RB Leipzig manager was forced to play Paul Pogba in a deeper role and accommodated both Jesse Lingard and Bruno Fernandes in midfield, given that his two first-choice options in the middle were missing from action.
Fernandes ‘ok for tomorrow’
Fernandes suffered a scare this morning as he was heading to Carrington, with the player involved in a car accident on the way to the training complex. Luckily, the Portugal international emerged uninjured from the crash.
Rangnick said that the 27-year-old was able to train with the team after the unfortunate incident and was okay, predicting the midfielder would also be in a good condition for tomorrow’s big game against Liverpool as well.
“The accident happened on the way to Carrington. But as far as I know, nobody was injured. He trained with the team and he was okay, and that’s why I think he will also be ok for tomorrow.”
The big news surrounding today was Fernandes’ accident scare, so it is encouraging to know that the player is okay and has not suffered any untoward injuries. From a fans’ view, his possible presence in the team for the Liverpool clash makes us stronger on paper.
He is a crucial cog in the United midfield, running the show in attack and linking up plays between players to create opportunities for our strikers to latch on to and score. His name on the team sheet makes every fan confident of their side’s chances in a game.
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Cristiano Ronaldo looks to be available again, with the Portugal skipper smashing a hat-trick past Norwich City over the weekend as he led the side to a 3-2 win at home. All eyes will be on him to supply the goals once again against arch-rivals Liverpool, who will have the advantage of playing in front of their supporters.
A win against the Reds tomorrow would be a massive boost for our top-four hopes, as we look to chase down Tottenham Hotspur who occupy the fourth position in the Premier League table. A victory would also mean that Liverpool would slip up in the title race, which would prove to be even sweeter for the Manchester crowd.
