Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Nemanja Matic is struggling with a minor injury ahead of the club’s derby against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Red Devils are trailing by a 3-1 scoreline after the first leg of their League Cup semi-final and they need to at least recover the deficit to hold any chance of making it to the final of the competition.
Amidst this, Solskjaer has revealed that Matic is struggling with an injury concern and he is unsure whether the Serbian will recover in time for the Manchester derby on Wednesday night.
“Nemanja had to come off, let’s see how he is before tomorrow. Nemanja felt something and to make sure we give him the best possible chance for tomorrow night we took him off [at Tranmere],” he told.
Aside from Matic, Solskjaer confirmed that there are no other injury worries from the previous game but there will be changes with the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and David de Gea returning to the mix.
In the potential absence of Matic, Andreas Pereira and Fred are expected to take up the central midfield duties at the Etihad and the former will definitely have a test on his hands with Kevin de Bruyne in the opposite ranks.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went with a three-man backline during the weekend’s 6-0 win over Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup fourth round, but he may revert to the traditional 4-2-3-1 formation for the derby.
United can’t afford to concede at the Etihad, considering the two-goal deficit, but attack could be the best form of defence to surprise the hosts and beat them for the second-straight meeting at the stadium.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login