Rúben Amorim has addressed Manchester United’s injury news as he prepares his side to face Newcastle in a crunch Premier League encounter.
Manchester United return to Premier League action this Sunday afternoon as they travel to St. James’ Park to take on Newcastle United.
The Reds, currently 13th in the league table, have struggled for goals in recent domestic outings, failing to score in their last two Premier League matches. However, they did find the net twice in a 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Rúben Amorim’s side had begun to build momentum before the March international break, but a defeat to Nottingham Forest followed by back-to-back draws against Manchester City and Lyon have slowed their progress once again.
Sunday’s clash presents a tough challenge, with Newcastle pushing for one of the five Champions League qualification spots on offer this season. Eddie Howe’s men sit 5th in the table and will be keen to strengthen their position with a win.
Amorim addresses injury returns vs Newcastle
Ahead of the upcoming tie in Tyneside, Amorim was quizzed on Thursday evening regarding any potential returns against Newcastle. Matthijs de Ligt has missed United’s last two ties due to injury, while Amad recently returned to individual training.
“No, I think it’s the same,” Amorim admitted when asked if any others would be available.
“There’s a great responsibility. We don’t have a team that is really big to do that [rotate], and then we have some players that I know that cannot make 90 minutes in this moment still.
“We have be careful, so we will try to address all these subjects in the game against Newcastle. But we have a great responsibility when we play any game, so I will try to look at that. That is for sure. But we have to face Newcastle with a team that we can be competitive, and to win the game.”
It has also been reported that André Onana will not be part of the squad to face Newcastle, with Altay Bayındır set to make his Premier League debut.
Could Mainoo start or Fernandes rested?
Further, the head coach was asked if club captain Bruno Fernandes could be rested for the Newcastle fixture, considering that he has played every minute of United’s last 20 fixtures, as well as two for Portugal last month.
“It’s an evaluation,” Amorim replied. “We’ll make this evaluation with all the staff, with all the data that we have, and then because we know already the players, we will try to protect the ones that it will be hard to make a lot of games.
“But Bruno Fernandes is playing all the time, and he’s playing better all the time. Sometimes, this kind of player has to play in every match. But we will address that in these days that we have to prepare.”
Further, with Kobbie Mainoo having returned to action after two months out, there have been calls for the player to return against Newcastle.
However, the above words from Amorim relating to how not all players are currently able to play 90 minutes cautions fans against expecting returns for those who are still building in fitness.
Although Amorim named an unchanged XI for the Lyon fixture, it is expected that those such as Joshua Zirkzee may return to the starting team for the Newcastle game.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.