Rashford, Antony, Malacia: Manchester United early injury news vs Liverpool (pre-season)

Erik ten Hag has provided the latest on Manchester United’s injuries as the club prepares to face Liverpool in South Carolina on Saturday evening.

Manchester United have completed four pre-season fixtures in the summer of 2024, with one more to go. They suffered a 1-0 defeat to Rosenborg but bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Rangers in Scotland, thanks to goals from Amad Diallo and Joe Hugill. New signing Leny Yoro made his unofficial debut after his £52 million transfer from Lille.

In their first USA fixture, United faced Arsenal and lost 2-1, but they lifted fans’ spirits by winning the pre-arranged penalty shootout 4-3. They followed this with a fantastic 3-2 win against Real Betis in San Diego.

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Next, United will play Liverpool at 00:30 BST on Sunday, 4 August, at the Williams-Brice Stadium in South Carolina, wrapping up their USA pre-season tour.

Against Arsenal, Rasmus Højlund and Leny Yoro both had to be withdrawn due to injury, with the former facing a six-week absence due to a hamstring issue while Yoro will be out for three months with a fractured metatarsal.

United had two further injury concerns against Betis, with Marcus Rashford and Antony both withdrawing in the second half due to injury issues, but Ten Hag has confirmed that they may be able to play against Liverpool, pending assessment.

“We have to wait,” he told reporters when asked about the fitness status of the pair on Thursday. Of course, we don’t go into risk, into the last game of the tour, going into the season next week already, into an important game [against Manchester City].

“We are still within the 24 hours after a game, so the final assessment we have to make and we will see if they are ready for the final game on Saturday against Liverpool.”

Further, he also issued an update on Tyrell Malacia, explaining that he expects the Dutch left back to return in two months. Malacia has not played football for over a year following multiple knee surgeries.

“He is now in a good place,” Ten Hag assured, “but he is not here because I only took players who could play games or be available for team training.

“He is not that far, but he is now in a progress situation. At a relatively short notice, he can again return into team training and then into team performance in games.

“I think it would be possible (for him to return) in two months.”

Finally, there has also been an update on when some of the Reds currently on holiday will return to the pack, with Aleandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martínez set to return within the next few days.

“Of course we a plan for every individual where they have to show up and that plan is now running,” Ten Hag said.

“Alejandro will already, tomorrow (Friday), start training. Licha will start on Monday so I have it in my mind, and that there is a plan and the need for every player in the off-season. We know every player where they are fitness-wise and next week we have to bring everything together.”

Alongside Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, and Altay Bayındır all returned to Carrington.

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