Rúben Amorim has issued injury updates on three players as he hints as to whether Kobbie Mainoo may start for Manchester United against Lyon in the Europa League.
Manchester United shift their focus back to Europa League action this Thursday evening, making the trip to France for a quarter-final showdown with Olympique Lyonnais.
Rúben Amorim’s side advanced with ease to the last eight, securing a 5-2 aggregate win over Real Sociedad in the previous round. Their commanding performance ensured they remain one of the strongest teams in the competition.
Lyon, meanwhile, cruised past FCSB with a dominant 7-1 aggregate victory, setting up an exciting encounter with United. Amorim’s squad is the only unbeaten team left in the Europa League, a record they’ll be keen to preserve.
However, after two goalless displays in the Premier League against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, Amorim will be hoping his side can rediscover their attacking form and find the back of the net once again in Lyon.
Triple United injury update given
On Wednesday morning, United midfield sensation Kobbie Mainoo was pictured in first-team training, with the club later confirming that Amorim had selected the 19-year-old as part of his travelling squad to Lyon.
Mainoo has not appeared for United since the club’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Leicester City on 7 February, sustaining a calf injury in training.
However, with Mainoo back in contention to play, Amorim has confirmed that he will remain cautious with respect to the player’s reintegration, hinting that he will not start the midfielder on Thursday evening.
“In this moment, we have to be careful with Kobbie. He had some games out, so we have to be careful with his fitness. We are really pleased with him, but we have to be careful with him.”
Amorim also issued updates on Matthijs de Ligt and Toby Collyer, both of whom did not travel with the squad to France on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mata has a problem in his foot. We are trying to assess; we still don’t have data on when he can return,” he continued. “Toby has a small issue in his legs, and we hope to have him in a few weeks.”
Amorim addresses Mainoo selection potential
Despite explaining that the midfielder would likely not start against Lyon, Amorim stressed to the press that he sees a lot of potential in the player’s future at United.
There have been many questions surrounding whether Mainoo would survive under Amorim due to a lack of clarity on his best role within he head coach’s 3-4-3 system, but Amorim was keen to point out that he feels Mainoo is a player who can adapt to multiple positions.
“I think in England, sometimes they played with three defenders, so he can play,” Amorim clarified. “We need to help him. Casemiro is playing better because we are understanding better the way Casemiro can play. I think we can do that with Kobbie. He is good on the ball and near the opponent’s box.”
Casemiro has come leaps and bounds of late, thriving as part of a more compact midfield under the Portuguese boss. Hopefully, with Mainoo set to return to action in the next few days, he can follow a similar upward trend.
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