Rúben Amorim will be hoping that he has up to three injury returns as Manchester United prepare to face Tottenham in the Europa League final.
Manchester United are setting their sights on the Europa League final, where they’ll face Tottenham in Bilbao on Wednesday evening.
Rúben Amorim’s side have struggled badly in the Premier League, going eight games without a win, but their European form has painted a very different picture.
After finishing third in the league phase, United overcame Real Sociedad 5-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, powered by a Bruno Fernandes hat-trick in the second leg.
The quarter-finals produced pure chaos. A 2-2 draw away to Lyon was followed by a dramatic night at Old Trafford, where United went 2-0 up, then trailed 4-2, before staging a remarkable comeback with three goals in seven minutes from Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, and Harry Maguire.
In the semis, United swept aside Athletic Club with a dominant 3-0 win in Spain and a 4-1 victory at home, setting up a showdown with Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs for a shot at European silverware.
United injury news vs Tottenham
United’s recent trip down to London to face Chelsea saw centre-back Ayden Heaven return to action for the first time since the middle of March, coming on to replace Luke Shaw for the final ten minutes of the fixture.
However, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, and Diogo Dalot did not travel, but Amorim confirmed earlier this week that all three players are working as hard as they can to be fit to play the fixture against Spurs.
“I don’t know if they are going to be available [for the final,” Ruben said of the trio.
“We are going to try to push because it’s the final matches and this is a final, you know that. All the players want to play that really bad. I don’t know, I think they will not go to Chelsea [on Friday], but we will have a possibility to have some of them for the final.
“Dalot is trying really bad. I don’t want to risk Dalot because, when you start getting one injury, second injury [follows] and it’s a big thing. We cannot have these kinds of problems in our squad. So, we will see, but he’s working really hard to get in the final.”
Dalot himself admitted that he hopes he can be available. “I’m feeling good,” the 26-year-old said, speaking on the same afternoon. “So, feeling better every day. We just, at this stage, we go day by day to see how it goes, but so far so good.”
Aside from those mentioned above, Joshua Zirkzee and Lisandro Martínez are confirmed absentees, having been ruled out for the season with a hamstring and knee injury, respectively.
Tottenham sweating on multiple injuries
Meanwhile, Postecoglou is sweating on the fitness of multiple players ahead of the final. With Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison both out of the tie, talented midfielder Lucas Bergvall is also a doubt.
Meanwhile, despite playing a second-string squad against Aston Villa on Friday, the Spurs boss also had to withdraw Pape Sarr in the second half, who went down the tunnel with medical staff.
However, Postecoglou confirmed after the game that he thinks Sarr may be okay, and came off after complaining about his back.
“Pape felt something in his back, so we took him off as a bit of a precaution,” Postecoglou said. “I don’t think it’s anything too significant, speaking to him afterwards, but he just felt something in his back.”
Meanwhile, club captain and star forward Son Heung-min made his first start in over a month, playing 74 minutes against Villa and is expected to play in the final.
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