Manchester United are managing Bruno Fernandes carefully after concerns about their captain over the international break – and Ruben Amorim could also be without Noussair Mazraoui for their clash against Liverpool this weekend. The Red Devils are set to journey to Merseyside on Sunday to take on the reigning Premier League champions at Anfield.
Amorim’s men clinched a crucial 2-0 victory over Sunderland prior to the international break and they aiming to secure consecutive league wins for the first time since the Portuguese coach took charge. Mazraoui has been sidelined since September 20 due to an undisclosed injury, and Amorim confessed he’s uncertain if the player will feature this weekend.
During his pre-match press conference, Amorim revealed: “Licha [Martinez] is near and almost returning to training with the team. Mazraoui, I don’t know.” Martinez suffered a knee injury during a match against Crystal Palace in early February, with it later confirmed that he had damaged his cruciate ligament.
His return to the squad isn’t imminent, and the coaching staff won’t rush him back into action. Amorim allowed extra rest for those players who had been on international duty or trained throughout the break, but he assured that these players will be ready for Sunday’s match.
Fernandes is one of those but following fears he looked fatigued while playing for Portugal, United are carefully managing the skipper’s fitness. He was granted an extra day’s rest before training with his team-mates ahead of this weekend’s match.
“The rest of the guys with the international teams, they are ready,” Amorim stated. “But if you saw the games, some players were in Japan, so we need to be careful and give more time.
“Diogo [Dalot] didn’t play the last game, he was here, Bruno [Fernandes] played 62 minutes, we tried to give one more day. We tried to balance everything to have the guys ready, but the guys returning from international break, they are ready.”
On the topic of Senne Lammens, set to make just his second United appearance at Anfield, Amorim added: “He did a great job [against Sunderland] and it’s possible he will start the game.
“The first impression in this game is really important. To maintain the level is even more difficult. He is not (Peter) Schmeichel yet, he is a young guy with talent and has shown a lot of composure.”