Rúben Amorim has issued an injury update as his Manchester United stars prepare themselves to face Aston Villa on Monday evening.
Manchester United will look to continue their strong run away from home when they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, in a match that could have major implications for the Premier League title race.
Rúben Amorim’s side have endured a difficult spell at Old Trafford, regularly throwing away leads, most recently allowing Bournemouth back into the game three times during Monday night’s dramatic 4-4 draw. Away from home, however, United have been far more reliable.
The Reds have not suffered an away defeat since late September, claiming impressive wins over Liverpool and Crystal Palace, while also earning draws against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.
Villa Park now presents their toughest examination yet. Unai Emery’s men are in outstanding form, having won nine straight Premier League matches, and sit just three points behind leaders Arsenal. Aston Villa will see an inconsistent United as another opportunity to strengthen their title challenge on home turf.
XXX United stars could miss Aston Villa tie
It is already known that Amorim will be without some of his key players as the side travels to Birmingham on Sunday.
Casemiro is serving a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. At the same time, Bryan Mbeumo, Amad, and Noussair Mazraoui are unavailable while they compete in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Meanwhile, doubts remain over the availability of Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt, who have been unavailable for United’s last three games.
Speaking to the press on Friday afternoon, Amorim issued an update on his squad, where he claimed that his squad are “all ready to go” beyond Maguire and De Ligt.
“I think everyone is well, we have one more training but today the rest of the guys are ready to go,” he said. When asked further on the centre-back pair, he said, “No. Nobody recovers and nobody else is out.”
It’s time to give Martínez a chance
Lisandro Martínez returned to first-team training around six weeks ago and has made four appearances since recovering from an ACL injury, all off the bench.
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With Maguire and De Ligt not match fit, Ayden Heaven has been covering at centre-back but had an admittedly tricky game against Bournemouth, and it may be wise to leave him out of the starting side away against such strong opposition in Villa.
Therefore, the away fixture on Sunday may be the best possible scenario to give Martínez his first start back in Red, as his aggressive nature and press-resistant skills could cope well with the high intensity of Villa’s front line.
It will be interesting to see if Amorim sticks to his new back-four formation over the next few weeks, and Martinez’s on-the-ball abilities could become vital for the Reds.
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