Jose Mourinho doesn’t expect any of the six injured players who missed Manchester United’s season-opening win over Leicester City to return against Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.
Sergio Romero, Antonio Valencia, Diogo Dalot, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic all missed the 2-1 victory over the Foxes, as the Reds got the 2018/19 Premier League campaign under way at Old Trafford last Friday night.
Speaking after the game, the boss told reporters he does not expect any of them will be back in action on Sunday when United travel to the Amex Stadium for our first away game of the new season.
However, Jose believes the Reds should be much stronger as his returning World Cup stars will have had a full week of training under their belts.
Jesse Lingard could make his first United appearance since last season’s Emirates FA Cup final, against a team he spent time on loan at in 2013/14, while Ashley Young could also return after his exploits with England in Russia, although Luke Shaw will hope to keep the left-back slot after scoring his first United goal, which proved decisive against Leicester.
“I think we will have the same players [as against Leicester],” Mourinho said. “I think the injured players aren’t going to be back for Brighton. What we have is Paul [Pogba] with nine days' training, [Marcus] Rashford with 11 days' training, [Marouane] Fellaini with nine days' training and, of course, they will be in a better condition.
“Normally, these boys that [against Leicester] were in a difficult situation will be ready to give a bit more [against Brighton] – more [Romelu] Lukaku, more Rashford, probably Lingard coming back, more Fellaini. I think normally we’re going to have more.”
HOW ARE BRIGHTON SHAPING UP?
The Seagulls will be looking for their first goal and point of the campaign after losing 2-0 away at Watford during the opening weekend.
Boss Chris Hughton could be without captain Bruno, as the veteran right-back was forced off early on at Vicarage Road with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Bruno was taken off 26 minutes into Brighton's Premier League opener and replaced by Gaetan Bong.
Brazilian left-back Bernardo was the only new signing to start against Watford, so Brighton could hand debuts to a number of their summer recruits against the Reds.
Record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who went to the World Cup with Iran and was the top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie last term, and Mali midfielder Yves Bissouma could make their full debuts after coming off the bench last weekend.
Brighton v United kicks off at 16:00 BST on Sunday and you can watch live build-up from the Amex Stadium from 14:00 BST on MUTV.
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