Although Ashley Young and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson have returned to training, they are unlikely to be fit to start against Liverpool. The same goes for Bastian Schweinsteiger, even though the German made his comeback against West Ham in the FA Cup.
Manchester United will field a very similar team to the one that lost against Liverpool in the first leg, with none of the walking wounded at Old Trafford deemed fit enough to start the game. It looked like Bastian Schweinsteiger could be in consideration, but manager Louis van Gaal has ruled out the possibility of the German international starting the match against Liverpool.
He added that the likes of Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson would also not be in contention for a starting place.
“Yeah [it’s too early for them]. Too early also for Schweinsteiger [to start],” said Van Gaal, according to the official Manchester United website.
“He has played two times 10 or 15 minutes, maybe he can play 45 minutes or 30 minutes dependable on the situation also on the pitch. I cannot say in advance but I try to do that of course. His impact was very big in the last game versus West Ham United and he was involved in the goal, I think.
But, yeah, I have to cope with the fact when they’re injured, they’re not back at the moment they train one training session with you.”
In the absence of Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera are most likely to pair up in central midfield for Manchester United, behind Spaniard Juan Mata. Jesse Lingard returns from suspension and will take up a position that he has made his own of late on the right wing, while Anthony Martial is expected to move to the left wing to accommodate Manchester United’s homegrown striker Marcus Rashford.
Daley Blind and Chris Smalling will make up the central defensive pairing, with Marcos Rojo playing at left-back and the impressive young Uruguayan Guillermo Varela on the right wing. Manchester United’s saviour-in-chief David de Gea will start in goal for this crucial game.
