Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will see four previously unavailable players: Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Donny van de Beek and David De Gea return to action tomorrow. United travel to AC Milan, for the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie.
The back half of the tie commences knotted up at 1-1 right now. De Gea is back available again after having had to isolate, due to coronavirus related protocols, after having traveled to Spain. United still have one more major player who won’t be ready in time for this one in Anthony Martial.
AC Milan vs Manchester United UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Leg 2/2 FYIs
Thursday, 18 March 2021, kickoff 20.00 UK, Tie currently stands at 1-1
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction: go here
United Early Team News: go here
AC Milan Team News/Match Preview: go here
Odds: AC Milan +240, Draw +230, United +115
The Frenchman remains sidelined after missing the weekend winner due to a hip injury. The void he leaves in the final third could be filled by Marcus Rashford who will be back in the squad here. which flew to Italy on Wednesday. Rashford missed the first leg of this tie due to an ankle issue. He took questions at the pre-UEL match presser today, including one on the ongoing shoulder issues he’s had, and how they could impact this summer’s European Championships.
Euro 2020 will be staged this summer, commencing June 11.
“To be honest I just focus on the next game at hand and that’s just the way I deal with it,” he said.
“What’s needed after we will deal with that after, my main focus is just being available for the games. I know my body and I know what I can do physically and that’s it. I take one game at a time. It’s the life of a footballer, we can rest when we retire and for now I’m happy playing as many games as I can.”
Rashford is expected to play a major role for Three Lions this sumemr.
On the other touchline, Zlatan Ibrahimovic could play against his former side here, after having missed the first leg due to injury. The mercurial Swede, who has made a ton of off-the-pitch headlines lately, trained with the rest of the side on Monday, but it remains to be seen whether he could feature off the bench, or even perhaps in a starting role tomorrow night.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
