Cristiano Ronaldo and Scott McTominay should return, while Harry Maguire is likely to be benched when Manchester United face Arsenal at the Emirates.
Manchester United will be raring to bounce back to winning ways when they travel south to London to lock horns with top-four rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Heading up to the game, Manchester United have one fresh injury blow as Paul Pogba is ruled out for the rest of the season after getting injured against Liverpool in earlier this week. Luke Shaw, Edinson Cavani and Fred remain sidelined for the Red Devils, who are boosted by the returns of Scott McTominay and Raphael Varane. Cristiano Ronaldo is also available after missing the last game due to personal reasons.
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“Scott McTominay will be back and fit to play. He has been training with us and will train today, so he will be available for the game tomorrow. The same is true with Rapha Varane and, obviously, Cristiano is available again,” Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick confirmed in his pre-match presser.
Issuing an update on Pogba, he added, “With Paul, it seems, after the scan we did yesterday or the day before yesterday, it’s very unlikely that he will play until the end of the season again. The doctor told me that it will take four weeks, minimum, for him to recover and, since the last game is at the end of May, I don’t think it’s very likely that he will be able to play again.”
After the mauling at Liverpool, it would make sense for Rangnick to change his centre-back pairing, with both Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire likely to be benched at Arsenal. The returning Varane should start on Saturday with Eric Bailly partnering the Frenchman at the heart of the Manchester United defence. Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles ought to be the full-backs on the right and left sides, respectively.
McTominay’s availability comes as a big boost for Manchester United. The Scotsman should return to the starting XI right away, partnering Nemanja Matic in the middle of the park to try and keep Arsenal at bay. Bruno Fernandes will take up the third midfield slot and look to put an end to his recent poor form.
Up top, with Ronaldo available again, he becomes a definite starter in the No. 9 role. Anthony Elanga has been one of the few positives this season for Manchester United and should start on the right flank. Jadon Sancho should come into the side on the left after being surprisingly benched for the Liverpool clash in midweek.
Manchester United Predicted XI: De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Bailly, Telles, Fernandes, Matic, McTominay, Elanga, Ronaldo, Sancho
