Antony, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial were all left out of Manchester United’s 23 man travelling squad that headed to Spain, to take on Real Sociedad tomorrow night. The Red Devils have a long list of injury absentees, and that means we will see a youthful side, at least in attack, for the Group E decider in San Sebastian.
In a post confirming the travel squad on their official website, United stated: “Antony and Anthony Martial will remain at Carrington, to continue with their individual training work, while Jadon Sancho is ill.”
Manchester United at Real Sociedad UEL Group Stage FYIs
Kick Off: Thursday, Nov 3, 2022, at 645pm Estadio Anoeta
Competition: Group E, Match Day 6 of 6
United Starting XI Prediction: go here
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MUFC Team News: go here
Anthony Martial returned to full training this week and worked with the first-team this morning, so he should be back for the weekend league fixture.
Regarding Antony, Manager Erik Ten Hag said the following after the David Moyes Cup victory over West Ham on Sunday: “He is injured. I hope it’s not too bad, I think it’s not too bad. In a couple of days he will be back.”
Jadon Sancho was on the bench at the weekend, so his absence is a bit mysterious. Hopefully more info will come out on that soon.
You can expect Ronaldo to be in the first team on Thursday night, as he was named to the squad, one that is rather lacking in final third options with the absence of the aforementioned attacking triad. Four youngsters trained with the first team today, and made the trip to the continent: Alejandro Garnacho, Zidane Iqbal, Facundo Pellistri and Shola Shoretire.
So there will be no Antony or Anthony Martial, but Anthony Elanga is in the team.
Expect to see at least a couple, if not all, feature in this crunch midweek clash. United are through to the UEL knockout round, but they have their work cut out for them in terms of winning the group. Sociedad are first in the group, and hold a +3 goal differential on United.
United Traveling Squad for UEL Finale at Real Sociedad
Attack: Ronaldo, Rashford, Elanga, Shoretire, Garnacho, Pellistri
Midfield: Fernandes, Eriksen, Fred, Casemiro, Van de Beek, McTominay, Iqbal
Defense:
Dalot, Wan-Bissaka, Martinez, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Malacia
Goalkeeping:
De Gea, Dubravka, Vitek
Paul M. Banks is the Owner/Manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly contributed to WGN News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.