Manchester United are giving some doubtful players all week to recover for the weekend’s meeting with crosstown rivals Manchester City.
The Red Devils host City at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon and Jose Mourinho is eager to have a full cast to choose from for the Manchester derby.
Left-back Luke Shaw returned to Manchester from Slovakia after missing training on Saturday ahead of England’s opening 2018 World Cup qualifier, which they won 1-0 on Sunday.
Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce revealed that Shaw had complained of a sore calf on the same leg as he broke last season, but expects the 21-year-old to be available for the derby.
Summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan suffered a thigh problem while representing Armenia last week but has been back at the AON Training Complex in a bid to prove his fitness for the weekend.
Midfielder Marouane Fellaini sustained a back issue while away with Belgium but trained with the Rode Duivels on Monday and could figure in their World Cup qualifier against Cyprus in Nicosia on Tuesday night.
Ecuador international Antonio Valencia along with Argentine pair Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo, will not return to England until the Friday before the match which puts all three in doubt, although Valencia could still take his place at right-back.
United and City will clash on Saturday in what will be a touchline reunion of some sorts between Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. And it’s definitely going to be a cracker of a game.
Both managers are known to be master tacticians and have equipped their sides well enough to contest for the title. Considered to be the most favorites for the EPL top prize, the duo can start deciding that by putting up a great performance comes the weekend.
Match referee for the upcoming derby, Mark Clattenburg has a lot on his hands ahead of this game as it will be as tense as they come given the nature of derbies.
Apart from the frequent gesticulating that will be going on the touchlines, the players will be trying to prove their worth and value with every touch, tackle, pass, flick and trick.
Pogba and Zlatan want to make statements of intents with their attacking skills, while Stones and Bravo on the other end want to neutralize them.
Bailly and Blind will want to do exactly the same to the attacking prowess of Sterling, De Bruyne, and Nolito hopes to display.