Manchester United vs Liverpool: Premier League match preview
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is hopeful that several injured players could be available to face Liverpool at Anfield today.
The Red Devils have been coping with a selection crisis in recent weeks as a number of first-team stars suffer with fitness problems.
Alexis Sanchez, Victor Lindelof, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw were all left in Manchester as United travelled to Valencia for their final Champions League group stage match last week.
Chris Smalling, Matteo Darmian and Diogo Dalot were also omitted from the squad for the 2-1 defeat while Nemanja Matic and David De Gea were rested.
Speaking on Friday ahead of the meeting with Liverpool, Mourinho was keeping his fingers crossed that some of the sidelined players could return this weekend.
“Today there will be a little - I don't want to say test - but a little introduction to training to see the answer, to see the adaptation and to see that we can increase a little bit tomorrow to have them available for Sunday,” said Mourinho.
“It's better not to say for sure but I hope that some will be... let's say available. But for sure, some will not be.”
“The ones that played in Valencia are on recovery sessions. The ones that are not fit are training. Some are not even training.
Man Utd team news: Paul Pogba is not guaranteed to start against Liverpool (Image: GETTY•buildlineup.com)
Man Utd team news: Paul Pogba featured from the off against Valencia but may be dropped again (Image: GETTY)
“Others are training but very limited, to see if the evolution comes step by step in the way they are ready to play.“
Shaw is the most likely to be fit and ready to feature at left-back while Mourinho has confirmed that Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young will all start after coming off the bench in midweek.
Smalling should also return and could displace Phil Jones after a catastrophic night in Spain while Romelu Lukaku could start if Anthony Martial is not passed fit.
Paul Pogba started against the La Liga outfit but failed to impress and could drop to the bench once more as his stormy relationship with Mourinho continues to hamper his progress.
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Man Utd team news: Is this how Jose Mourinho's side will line up against Liverpool? (Image: buildlineup.com)
Manchester United predicted line-up vs Liverpool – Premier League