Erik ten Hag confirmed in Friday’s press conference that he could have six players back for the game.
Erik ten Hag and Ange Postecoglou gave detailed team and injury news updates in their Friday pre-match press conferences, ahead of this weekend’s Premier League encounter between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
For Ten Hag, the updates mainly centred around returning players, with Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro back after long-term injuries. Neither is expected to s tart at Old Trafford on Sunday, but Luke Shaw, Christian Eriksen, Amad and Antony could be options for Ten Hag with the quartet set to come back from recent absences.
The United boss also confirmed Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia and Mason Mount are closing in on returns, but they won’t come ahead of this weekend, while Anthony Martial was declared ‘not fit’ by Ten Hag.
However, the Dutchman wasn’t asked about Harry Maguire, a player who he claimed on Monday could be back to face Tottenham, while uncertainty remains regarding Andre Onana’s situation. The goalkeeper is expected to play at the weekend despite Cameroon kicking off their African Cup of Nations campaign less than 24 hours after the Spurs match.
Ten Hag said last week that he hoped the keeper would be available for the game, but there was no update in Friday’s press conference. Meanwhile, Sofyan Amrabat will not be involved against Tottenham as he has been called up by Morocco for the competition.
As for Postecoglou’s media briefing, it primarily concerned players who will miss the game, with Ben Davies and Giovani Lo Celso picking up knocks in the FA Cup win over Burnley last week.
“Ben has got a hamstring injury so it’ll probably be around four or five weeks,” the ex-Celtic boss said. “Gio is similar but it is a little bit more complicated. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of it. I think he is having another assessment on Monday but he will miss this game. Dane Scarlett also picked up a knock in training so he will miss out this weekend as well.”
The trio join long-term absentees James Maddison, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon and Alejo Veliz on the sidelines, while Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Heung-min Son are set to miss out due to their international commitments at the African Cup of Nations and Asia Cup. But Spurs could hand debuts to January arrivals Radu Dragusin and Timo Werner.
Doubts: Onana, Maguire (United) Ruled out: Lindelof, Malacia, Amrabat, Mount, Martial (United); Romero, Davies, Bissouma, Sarr, Lo Celso, Solomon, Maddison, Perisic, Son, Veliz, Scarlett (Tottenham).
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